Since we were unable to go to Glacier NP this summer due to work challenges it was a necessity to schedule, when possible, a few local California trips. This campground I almost don’t want to talk about – it’s perfect! We left on July 16th – heading towards McCloud and Fowlers Campground for 4 days. Knowing that Thursdays are a good day to show up at a campground that doesn’t take reservations, we leisurely drove the 2 hours from home. We made it to the park by 2:00 thinking even though it’s July and there are 39 sites we would have numerous sites to pick from, however there were only two sites vacant that would fit our trailer! Again we lucked out and got a pretty nice semi-private site. All 39 sites were gone by 4:00 afterall it’s the middle of summer. Added to that the campground was closing on Sunday for a week so that new bear-proof storage lockers could be installed. We weren’t affected as we were going home Sunday. The camp host also informed us that the campground was so popular that summer of 2016 it will be on the reservation system.
Site #38
According to the Shasta-Trinity NF site, “The McCloud Falls vary in height from 15 to 50 feet. A river-side trail from the campground provides access to the falls. It is approximately three miles round trip to see all three.”
The town of McCloud looks up to Mt. Shasta and after living in Yreka for some years ago I still like this side of the mountain best. The vegetation on this side is forested and the McCloud river is gorgeous, plus the entrance to the ski area is close by.
Lunch found us at the White Mountain Cafe and we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. After eating we spent time walking around town and visited the museum. Talked a lot to the volunteer about the town’s past and future, specifically the McCloud mill site, and picked up a walking tour map as well.
About 9 miles southeast of McCloud the river comes into a reservoir to form Lake McCloud. It then flows into Lake Shasta.
Nothing better than Basil Chicken, salad and a local wine outside.
When we lived in Yreka we would bring our kids and wooden boat to Medicine Lake(48 miles from McCloud) located on the Modoc NF and camp. We haven’t been here in over 20 years and wanted to see if we could possibly bring the Cloud here. The lake appeared low (drought), it was breezy and the Pit River people were having a gathering. They have been in court since 2002 over the proposed development of geothermal energy regarding Medicine Lake, a place the Pit River people consider important spiritually. After looking at all the campgrounds (4) we thought it would be better for tent camping.
Middle Falls – best swimming with a parking lot close by. Watched two kids cliff jump into the water from the area to the left of the falls.
John took a swim in the water at Middle Falls.
Named for a person who built a hotel/cottages for fishing early on and then it was destroyed by fire. The USFS has had the land since 1932.
We will come back here again as it was a perfect spot to relax.
