The Shasta Cascade region of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

is located in the northeastern and north-central sections of the state bordering

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, including far northern parts of the Central Valley and the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountain range.

History

Indigenous cultures

Historically, the Shasta Cascade region was home to Native Americans of the Modoc,

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

, Okwanuchu,

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

, Shasta,

Wintu The Wintu (also Northern Wintun) are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun (or Wintuan). There are three major groups that make up the Wi ...

, and

Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma * Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative c ...

tribes, and sub-groups of those tribes.

Colonialism

The first non-Native Americans entered the Shasta Cascade region by coming south along the Siskiyou Trail from

, or north along the Siskiyou Trail from central California or the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. These earliest explorers were probably British and American fur-trappers and traders in the 1820s and 1830s, although it is also possible that Spanish explorers reached the southern edge of the Shasta Cascade region before 1820.

Gold rush

The discovery of gold in 1851 at Yreka (and throughout Siskiyou and Trinity counties) brought the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

-era prospectors up the rivers of the region in search of gold, leading to the first non-Native American settlements in the area, including at Old Shasta, Portuguese Flat, Upper Soda Springs, Weaverville, and Yreka itself.

Geography

There are seven national forests in the Shasta Cascade region:

Klamath National Forest Klamath National Forest is a United States National Forest, national forest, in the Klamath Mountains and Cascade Range, located in Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou County in northern California, but with a tiny extension (1.5 percent of th ...

, Lassen National Forest, Modoc National Forest, Plumas National Forest and Shasta–Trinity National Forest, as well as the Lava Beds National Monument. The area is also well known for its numerous lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, including Shasta Lake, Trinity Lake, Lake Almanor, Eagle Lake, and Lake Siskiyou, the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

, McCloud River, Feather River, Trinity River, and Pit River, as well as Mossbrae Falls, the McCloud River Falls, and Burney Falls. Numerous parks and recreation opportunities fill the area including Shasta Lake, Lake Siskiyou,

Castle Crags State Park Castle Crags is a dramatic and well-known Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Northern California. Elevations range from along the Sacramento River near the base of the crags, to over at the summit of the tallest crag. Lo ...

, a new park at Upper Soda Springs, the Trinity Alps, Lava Beds National Monument, Clair Engle Lake, Castle Lake,

Lassen Volcanic National Park Lassen Volcanic National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest lava dome, plug dome volcano in the wo ...

, Caribou Wilderness, Thousand Lakes Wilderness, and climbing Mount Shasta.

Metropolitan areas

The civic "capital" of the Shasta Cascade area is Redding; other cities and towns are Alturas,

Biggs Biggs may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Biggs (TV channel), a Portuguese television channel formerly for kids, teens and youth and now for teens and youth. * Biggs Darklighter, a character in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' * Biggs, a re ...

, Chico, Susanville, Dunsmuir,

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( ; Shasta people, Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk language, Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a Volcano#Volcanic activity, potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. A ...

, Red Bluff, Oroville,

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

Weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

, Fall River Mills, Burney, and Yreka. Counties included in the Shasta Cascade region include

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

Geology

Geologically, this region is similar to the main

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

, dominated by

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

References

External links

Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association
— ''local information website''.
Shasta Cascade Viticulture Association

Museum of the Siskiyou Trail
{{coord, 41.150, -121.673, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Geography of Northern California Regions of California Cascade Range * Northern California Sacramento Valley