How this picture was made
Photorealistic landscape photograph at golden hour in far northern California: a massive solitary glacier-draped stratovolcano rising alone high above dark conifer forest and foothills, clear blue sky, snow and named-less glaciers on the upper cone catching warm low light, no people, no buildings, no signs. 35mm lens, natural color, faint film grain.
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Camp here — Shasta-Trinity National Forest
114 camps mapped in this forest, 62 of them free. Tap one for its topo and aerial, the weather, the water, and how far you will be from fuel and a shower.
- FreeGumboot Campground
- FreePublic camping area
- FreeDeer Lick Springs Campground
- FreeBig Slide Campground
- FreeSlide Creek Campground
- FreeRipstein Campground
- FreeScott Flat Campground
- FreeIndian Valley Dispersed Camping Area
Where dispersed camping is listed — Shasta-Trinity National Forest
The Forest Service lists dispersed camping as an activity at these 15 places. That is the agency saying it is allowed somewhere in the area — not a campsite we have mapped, and not a spot we can put a pin on. Read their page, then check the district for the rules that apply on the day.
- Arbuckle Flat Boat-In Campground
Arbuckle Flat is one of four boat-access only campgrounds on Shasta lake. Located far up the Pit Arm of the lake, this facility is very popular with those visitors who want to get away from the crowds. Whether or not the access…
the Forest Service page for it → - Beehive Point Shoreline Area
Shoreline camping area. There are no picnic table or fire rings. Campfire permit required.
the Forest Service page for it → - Gooseneck Cove Boat-In Campground
Gooseneck Cove is one of four boat-access only campgrounds on Shasta lake. Located on the upper Sacramento arm of the lake, this facility is very popular. Whether or not the access is difficult varies depends on the current lake…
the Forest Service page for it → - Greens Creek Boat-In Campground
Greens Creek is one of four boat-access only campgrounds on Shasta lake. Located on the McCloud Arm of the lake, this facility is popular with those visitors who want to get away from the crowds. Whether or not the access is…
the Forest Service page for it → - Gregory Beach Shoreline Area
Shoreline Camping. Pack In, Pack Out.
the Forest Service page for it → - Hayfork Area
The South Fork Management Unit (SFMU) is based in Hayfork and contains the Hayfork and Yolla Bolla Ranger Districts. The SFMU encompasses over 590,000 acres. Three major streams from the primary watersheds within this area; the…
the Forest Service page for it → - Jones Valley Inlet Shoreline Campground
The Jones Valley Inlet is open to shoreline camping year round. Portable restrooms and trash receptacles are provided from March 1 - October 31, all other times it is a Pack-In, Pack-Out site, water is not available. During fire…
the Forest Service page for it → - Lower Salt Creek Shoreline Area
Shoreline camping on Shasta Lake
the Forest Service page for it → - Mt. Shasta Area
Recreation on the unit centers on the two designated wilderness areas of Mount Shasta and Castle Crags. Dominating the landscape for several hundred miles in all directions, Mount Shasta looms 14,162 feet, a beautiful…
the Forest Service page for it → - Ridgeville Boat-In Campground
Accessible only by boat, this campground is located on the east point of the Mule Creek cove. Total of 21 units. No piped water.
the Forest Service page for it → - Ridgeville Island Boat-In Campground
Accessible only by boat, this campground is located near Ridgeville and Mariner's Roost. Total of 3 units. No piped water.
the Forest Service page for it → - Shasta Lake Area
** Due to fluctuating water levels on Shasta Lake, visitors are encouraged to contact the Shasta Recreation Company (concessionaire to the Forest Service) @ 530-275-8113 or the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta Lake Ranger…
the Forest Service page for it → - Ski Island Boat-In Campground
Ski-Island is one of four boat-access only campgrounds on Shasta Lake. Located near the Mariners Point campground on the Pit Arm of the lake, this facility is very popular during the summer months. Whether or not the access is…
the Forest Service page for it → - Trinity Unit - National Recreation Area
The Trinity Unit, comprised of Trinity and Lewiston Lakes, is one of three units that comprise the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. It was established by Congress in 1965. These areas are recognized for their…
the Forest Service page for it → - Yolla Bolla Area
The South Fork Management Unit (SFMU) is based in Hayfork and contains the Hayfork and Yolla Bolla Ranger Districts. The SFMU encompasses over 590,000 acres. Three major streams from the primary watersheds within this area; the…
the Forest Service page for it →
Where the camps cluster
The place
Shasta-Trinity National Forest sprawls across roughly 2.1 to 2.2 million acres of far Northern California -- the largest national forest in the state -- stitched together from the old Shasta and Trinity forests, which were administratively combined back in 1954. It straddles two very different mountain worlds: the volcanic Cascades on the east and the granite Klamath Mountains on the west. At its heart stands Mount Shasta, a glacier-clad stratovolcano rising to about 14,180 feet and dominating the skyline for a hundred miles around. To the west rise the sharp peaks of the Trinity Alps; in the middle sits Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California by capacity; and wild rivers -- the Trinity, the McCloud, the upper Sacramento -- cut deep canyons through the whole of it.
History
The Trinity River country was struck by gold early: prospectors were working its bars in 1848, right on the heels of the Coloma strike, and the rush spilled into the 1850s with boomtowns like Weaverville. Long before that -- and still today -- this was homeland to several Indigenous peoples, including the Wintu, Winnemem Wintu, Shasta, and Karuk, for whom Mount Shasta remains a living sacred mountain. The land was set aside as federal forest reserves in 1905, and the Shasta and Trinity forests were joined into a single administrative unit in 1954. The biggest human mark is Shasta Dam, completed around 1945 as a keystone of the Central Valley Project: it plugged the Sacramento River to create Shasta Lake and, in the process, flooded canyons along with village and ceremonial sites of the Winnemem Wintu on the upper river -- a loss the tribe still speaks about.
Wildlife & plants
Black bears roam throughout, so store your food, along with mountain lions and black-tailed deer (the coastal branch of the mule deer family). Elk turn up in places thanks to reintroduction and slow range recovery -- the wetter northwest edge of this corner of the state is Roosevelt elk country, while herds out toward Shasta Valley are actually Rocky Mountain elk, a different animal. The rivers are the showpiece: the Trinity and its tributaries carry salmon and steelhead (heavily managed, but iconic), and the cold, clear McCloud is legendary trout water. Bald eagles and ospreys work the lakes, Steller's jays scold through the pines, and the forest climbs from oak and ponderosa up into fir and, high on Shasta and in the Trinity Alps, into subalpine hemlock and whitebark pine.
Notable features
The crown jewel is Mount Shasta -- a potentially active stratovolcano near 14,180 feet, the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range (after Rainier) and generally considered its most voluminous, still carrying named glaciers like the Hotlum and Whitney, though they've been shrinking in recent decades. To the west, the Trinity Alps Wilderness protects a maze of granite peaks and alpine lakes across roughly half a million acres -- one of California's largest wilderness areas (and the second-largest run by the Forest Service, after the John Muir) -- shared with neighboring forests. Shasta Lake, held back by Shasta Dam, is the state's largest reservoir by capacity, with around 365 miles of crenellated shoreline at full pool and a big houseboat culture. Wild stretches of the Trinity, McCloud, and upper Sacramento rivers thread the forest, and its far eastern edge runs into the dark lava country of the Medicine Lake Highlands.
Camps are sourced from public U.S. Forest Service recreation data and have not been personally visited. Roads shown are Forest Service passenger-car routes (maintenance level 3–5) and may be seasonal or gated. Always confirm access, fees and fire rules with the ranger district before you go. Found a fee where we show free? Tell us on the contact page.