Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near Shasta Lake, California

This is a wide-open easy trail from the Chappie staging area, past Mammoth Mountain, to a lunch spot. It's easy for all riding abilities, with a ton of overlooks along the way. During the spring, you will find a lot of waterfalls along the road. This route also goes through several burn scars, which...
Learn more about Mammoth Mountain Trail 1

Swift Creek - FS 36N25 is a highly accessible, beautifully scenic Forest Service road that reaches the trailheads for the Granite Lake and Swift Creek trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. As you meander through the dense, towering pine forest, the trail occasionally opens up to offer sweeping, el...
Learn more about Swift Creek - FS 36N25

Branching off from the main road and clearly marked by brown Forest Service directional signs, this beautiful journey takes you through a dense pine forest along a road that is generally very wide, exceptionally flat, and clearly well-traversed. As you cruise along the hillside, the surface alternat...
Learn more about Lake Eleanor - FS 36N24

Nestled within the breathtaking Shasta-Trinity National Forest, this route climbs through a beautifully dense, lush evergreen woodland that slowly thins out as you approach the alpine summit. The public primarily travels this wonderfully maintained forest road to access the active Bonanza King Looko...
Learn more about Bonanza King Lookout - FS 38N85

While the trail is an easy dirt road the real story is the river. The Lower McCloud River flows approximately 12 miles from Lake McCloud into Lake Shasta. It can have an emerald green color, which can be due to suspended sand, volcanic ash, and other particulate matter. There are two campgrounds on ...
Learn more about McCloud River 38N53

This is a fun drive up through the mountains that will require 4x4 high clearance. However, it does not require lockers. Bring a lunch and enjoy the backcountry, with some great views of valleys and mountains.
Learn more about Jack's Backbone

Winding through a beautiful, lush evergreen landscape, Red Hill - FS 40N43 is managed by the Shasta National Forest and offers spectacular views of majestic Mount Shasta. The public often utilizes this route as a highly scenic, unpaved alternate loop off the paved W A Barr Road (FS 26), or to safely...
Learn more about Red Hill - FS 40N43

The Dill Scenic Trail is an out and back at Shasta National Forest in California. There are great views of Mount Shasta as well as the surrounding mountains. This trail is not difficult by any means, but some higher ground clearance and good tires will go a long way. The trail starts out extremely d...
Learn more about Dill Scenic Trail

This 2-mile out-and-back trail starts and returns to Medicine Lake Road, running through the Shasta National Forest amid heavy overgrowth of manzanita bushes. Numerous downed trees have been cut and pushed aside along the route, and drivers will need to maneuver around them throughout the drive. Thi...
Learn more about Horseshoe - FS 39N54

This trail starts off Medicine Lake Road, running through the Shasta National Forest in an area of thinned pine forest dotted with greenleaf manzanita bushes. The trail surface is fine, dusty dirt with some very small rocks, maintaining a width of 1 to 1.5 vehicles throughout. Drivers will encounter...
Learn more about Bear Wallow East - FS 40N12

This 1.5-mile point-to-point trail connects Harris Springs Road with Davis - FS 42N04, running through the Shasta National Forest along a one-vehicle-wide corridor lined with manzanita bushes and pine trees. The surface is fine, dusty dirt covered with a layer of pine needles, pine cones, and scatte...
Learn more about Saddle Back Bartle Ea - FS 40N07Y

This 3-mile point-to-point trail starts on Davis North - FS 42N04 and ends on Dry Larry - FS 40N79, running through the Shasta National Forest. The trail is barely one vehicle wide as it passes through a very young pine forest, with overgrown grasses and bushes filling the median along this section....
Learn more about Stillwater Addition - FS 40N86

This trail is long but easy with plenty of camping options along the way, with many that will fit multiple vehicles. No obstacles along the trail. There are great views of Lassen Peak from multiple spots on the trail. Some camp spots have views of Lassen Peak from them as well.
Learn more about North Philbrook - 27N06

This trail is a mix of gravel and dirt. This is a short 1-mile trail that does have some narrow spots and shelf sections. There was also a nice-sized camp spot on the trail that had a nice view of the mountains and valleys in the distance.
Learn more about Calf Spur South - FS 27N12Y

This 4.5-mile point-to-point trail starts at Well - FS 40N50 and ends at Sand Flat - FS 40N49. The surface is loose red dirt that gets very dusty, staying 1.5 vehicles wide throughout. The route runs through the Shasta National Forest amid many pine trees, with visible piles from past logging operat...
Learn more about Long Grade - FS 40N03

This trail connects Highway 49, also known as Medicine Lake Road, with White Deer Lake, running through the Shasta National Forest. The trail surface is fairly smooth, consisting of dusty dirt, and maintains a width of only one vehicle throughout, surrounded by lots of grass, manzanita bushes, and p...
Learn more about White Deer Lake East - FS 40N07A

This short point-to-point trail connects Big Sand Flat - FS 40N17 with Highway 15, also known as the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, cutting through a section of the Shasta National Forest featuring a mix of new young growth and medium-aged growth trees. The surface is fine, dusty dirt covered with pi...
Learn more about Flat Harris - FS 41N83

This 2.5-mile point-to-point trail starts at Big Sand Flat and ends at White Deer Lake - FS 41N30, winding through the Shasta National Forest as a one-vehicle-wide route made of loose dirt covered with pine needles and pine cones. The forest here is a mix of young pine and medium-aged growth, with a...
Learn more about White Deer - FS 42N78

This trail connects White Deer Lake - FS 41N40 and Highway 49, also known as Medicine Lake Road, running through the Shasta National Forest. The route takes you along the east shore of White Deer Lake, which is currently a dry lake bed surrounded by lots of aspen as well as pine trees. The lake is p...
Learn more about White Deer East - FS 40N07

This is a long, mostly gravel trail. The first half of the trail is pretty flat and smooth; the second half has more wash/rut damage. There are multiple spots to pull off to camp along the trail, some spots being pretty big for multiple vehicles. The trail ends at a large area to camp as well.
Learn more about Elam Carter - FS 28N12

This is a wide-open easy trail from the Chappie staging area, past Mammoth Mountain, to a lunch spot. It's easy for all riding abilities, with a ton of overlooks along the way. During the spring, you will find a lot of waterfalls along the road. This route also goes through several burn scars, which...
Learn more about Mammoth Mountain Trail 1

Swift Creek - FS 36N25 is a highly accessible, beautifully scenic Forest Service road that reaches the trailheads for the Granite Lake and Swift Creek trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. As you meander through the dense, towering pine forest, the trail occasionally opens up to offer sweeping, el...
Learn more about Swift Creek - FS 36N25

Branching off from the main road and clearly marked by brown Forest Service directional signs, this beautiful journey takes you through a dense pine forest along a road that is generally very wide, exceptionally flat, and clearly well-traversed. As you cruise along the hillside, the surface alternat...
Learn more about Lake Eleanor - FS 36N24

Nestled within the breathtaking Shasta-Trinity National Forest, this route climbs through a beautifully dense, lush evergreen woodland that slowly thins out as you approach the alpine summit. The public primarily travels this wonderfully maintained forest road to access the active Bonanza King Looko...
Learn more about Bonanza King Lookout - FS 38N85

This is a wide-open easy trail from the Chappie staging area, past Mammoth Mountain, to a lunch spot. It's easy for all riding abilities, with a ton of overlooks along the way. During the spring, you will find a lot of waterfalls along the road. This route also goes through several burn scars, which...
Learn more about Mammoth Mountain Trail 1

Swift Creek - FS 36N25 is a highly accessible, beautifully scenic Forest Service road that reaches the trailheads for the Granite Lake and Swift Creek trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. As you meander through the dense, towering pine forest, the trail occasionally opens up to offer sweeping, el...
Learn more about Swift Creek - FS 36N25

Branching off from the main road and clearly marked by brown Forest Service directional signs, this beautiful journey takes you through a dense pine forest along a road that is generally very wide, exceptionally flat, and clearly well-traversed. As you cruise along the hillside, the surface alternat...
Learn more about Lake Eleanor - FS 36N24

Nestled within the breathtaking Shasta-Trinity National Forest, this route climbs through a beautifully dense, lush evergreen woodland that slowly thins out as you approach the alpine summit. The public primarily travels this wonderfully maintained forest road to access the active Bonanza King Looko...
Learn more about Bonanza King Lookout - FS 38N85