Day Hikes on Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta does not have many marked trails, but some of the more popular day-hikes start from the trailheads. From the Bunny Flat trailhead (6,860), you can hike in any direction you choose. The most popular hike is the trail to Horse Camp. From Horse Camp you can plan your own route either to Hidden Valley (9,200), Helen Lake (10,443), or maybe just a good hike to one of the ridge tops. Another popular hike is on the Everitt Memorial Highway past the locked gate to the luscious upper Panther Meadow, 7,770 feet. From the Meadow you can take the trail leading up to Grey Butte, 8,108 feet, or continue along the road to the old Ski Bowl, 7,800 feet. From the Ski Bowl you have the option of hiking to the alpine Squaw Valley Meadows, 8,000 feet, or to the little summit of Green Butte at 9,193 feet. Check with the Ranger Station to see if the gate is open.

From Bunny Flat

Panther Meadow's wildflowers used to flourish until heavy recreational traffic destroyed them over the years. The upper part of Panther Meadows has a particular hardy spring that keeps the ground saturated allowing some of the wildflowers to regain their dominance once again. There are marked trails that lead through the meadows and visitors must not wander off them. These meadows are considered spiritual places and most people go there to meditate or to just sit and relax. For a scenic round trip, start at the Panther Meadow campground and hike to the lower meadow and follow the trail upwards to the upper meadow and back again.

The trail to Squaw Valley Meadows can be reached from the Gray Butte trail at lower Panther Meadow or from the old Ski Bowl parking lot. Starting from the old Ski Bowl you will see a rock-lined trail leading up the right side of the bowl. One of Shasta's most hardy wildflowers, the western anemone, with its six white petals, locally called the Windflower, grows un abundance in the rocks and sand. Follow this trail over the barren rocky landscape for approximately 1 mile until you see a massive rocky butte known as Red Butte, 8,377 feet. You may lose the trail for a short distance through the sandy flat below Red Butte until you pick it up again at The Gate (refer to a topo map). The Gate, so called because it is a natural passage way between Sargents Ridge and Red Butte. Once you pass through The Gate and drop down the canyon below Sargents Ridge, the landscape gives way to a thick forest of mountain hemlocks and a few Shasta Red firs. Follow the well-marked trail for less than a mile until you hear the sound of some rushing streams at which time you will arrive at the upper Meadow.

Looking above the green luscious Meadow at the Mountain, you will have a fantastic view of Konwakiton Glacier. The upper Meadow and the surrounding ridges are decorated with a variety of Shasta's wildflowers. The very rare wildflower, Wilkin's harebell, with its five petals and violet-colored cups, grows mostly next to the creeks and in the rocky crevices along the edge of the meadow. This particular flower only grows for a couple of months during the frost-free season and it's so delicate that one step along the side of it will kill it forever. The flower was named after Laura Wilksons’, a botanist with the CH Merriam expedition. The upper Meadow and its waters are sometimes disturbed by groups making bathing pools in the creeks. When this happens it backs up the natural flow of water and significantly alters the growth of the wildflowers. The meadows are truly a beautiful place on the Mountain and we all need to treat them as such.

Before you leave the upper Meadow, you may want to take a short side trip to lower Squaw Valley Meadow. There is usually a well-worn foot trail leading south down the canyon from the upper Meadow which follows along the fast moving Squaw Valley Creek. The lower Meadow with its waterlogged ground is situated in a small basin that usually holds pockets of snow up until midsummer. This area is protected from the wind, and on a hot day the humidity seems to rise which makes the Meadow a perfect place for mosquito's breeding.

The Northwest Side

From the Bolam Creek trailhead, 5,400 feet, a really moderate 1A mile hike to Whitney Falls, 6,400 feet, awaits you. The trail is located across the creek bed and it starts on an old road which follows east along the drainage of Bolam Creek. The old road is not maintained and it is choked with manzanita and different kinds of brush. During the summer, the Indian paintbrush radiates its bright red painted cups over the sandy landscape. Whitney Falls is not marked so be aware of the side trail to your right that winds through the woods which will lead you to the Falls. If you're fortunate, you may see some directional cairns placed there by other hikers.

Once you're at the Falls, you can backtrack to the old road and continue up the Mountain for an additional 2 miles until you reach the lower end of Whitney Glacier. Plan on taking 2 days for this hike, one to get lost and the other to find the glacier. This is probably the most time consuming and difficult hike on the Mountain, because once you leave the old road, you will have to scramble up and down lava fields which may lead you to a steep lava wall or sometimes to a dead end. You can avoid the lava fields by hiking up the Whitney drainage as long as the creek is dry, but beware of rockfalls. If you take this hike to the glacier in the summer, you must make sure you take sufficient water with you because the hot sun reflects off the lava rocks baking you like a cactus in the desert.