SHASTA COUNTY
Thought for today: Philippians 4:8 ..Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things..
Disclaimer: There is no assurance that any resource or activity I've found or described will be as 'accessible' as you might need. Information or links may be out of date. Use the information at your own risk and be sure to check with your health care professional for exercise advice.
Shasta County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850. The doorway of the Shasta Cascade Region in northern California, Shasta County has wonderful lakes, rivers, scenic drives, back country roads, volcanoes, parks, wildlife, waterfalls, whitewater action and so much more. It's a nature photographer's dream county!
Redding is the largest city in the county and a recreational hub. Many of Redding's restaurants and public places are ADA wheelchair accessible. There are quite of number of 'accessible' and rollator-friendly recreation opportunities within the county, but finding them can be a real challenge. For example, take handicap accessible fishing platforms. If you ask at the Fly Fishing hangouts, everyone knows there are some wheelchair accessible fishing platforms, but they can't tell you exactly where they are. (I have listed some in the DRAFT LIST of possibilities)
Surprisingly, Shasta County does not include Mount Shasta, though it can be seen from many parts of the county. Lassen Peak, in Lassen Volcanic National Park IS in Shasta County. So from Redding you can see two beautiful dormant volcanoes. Shasta County has Lake Shasta (Shasta Dam tours are wheelchair accessible), Whiskyown Lake, Trinity and Lewiston Lakes as well an numerous smaller recreational bodies of water. Did I mention they are all beautiful?
Home to American Trails, I was expecting better identification of wheelchair accessible trails within Shasta county. The best resource I can locate is the general descriptions and maps of trails at Healthy Shasta. Basically, if the trail is described as paved it should be wheelchair friendly. But what about the unpaved trails? The same lack of description applies to Shasta-Trinity National Forest - which after some letter writing over a period of months now has a 2017 downloadable guide for barrier-free fun.
From Redding it is easy to make day trips all around the region. We've tracked down and visited a number of great (and wheelchair accessible) nature photography locations. Here is my current reviews of slow walking adventures taken in Shasta County:
- Baum Lake
- Big Bend Kayaking
- Clear Creek Gorge
- Explore Fall River
- Hat Creek County Park
- Hat Creek Trout Area
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Lema Ranch Trails
- Muletown Road Trip Guardian Rock Vista Point Trail
- Pit River Campground
- Pit River Falls
- Whiskeytown National Recreation Area Crystal Creek Falls Trail
There are lots (and lots, and lots) of places yet to be reviewed for wheelchair accessibility and I am unlikely to get to them all. So that others may find some new places, I've compiled a draft list of locations that may be wheelchair accessible. These are POSSIBILITIES, no certainties. Some places may be complete duds. ATTENTION: this is a ROUGH draft list - mostly for my own use, so if you use this draft list, lower your expectations and do your homework! DRAFT SHASTA COUNTY ACCESSIBLE RECREATION LIST
