My birthday is May 30th. For many years that and the Memorial Day holiday were my excuse to go camping. I booked an RV resort in Redding for the weekend. The number of truly amazing outdoor opportunities within a hour or so of Redding is mind-boggling. I towed the boat but it sat all weekend due to crazy 100 degree + hot temperatures. So I scoped out a loop drive to get us up in some altitude and hopefully out of the heat.

Very rewarding trip. Plan for a good solid 6-8 hrs on the road if you plan to hike to all of the falls and hang out a bit. The first stop was Potem falls about an hour east of Redding on 299.

The falls are on a creek off of the Pitt river about 9 miles in on an easy gravel road. The sign for the trail is about a mile past the Pitt bridge.

A moderately difficult 1/2 mile hike is required to get the the base of the falls.

So worth it.

It was a bit tricky for Deb but she got down in one piece.

As did my buds

Off to Burney for lunch at the cafe across from the bowling alley

We thought about Burney Falls but it was a seething mass of post-pandemic lockdown escapees. We hit 89 north and crossed over Lake Britton which looked very inviting. Excellent accessible pier. This PGE impoundment was full. EVERY waterway up there is tinkered with by PGE.

Another 40 miles north to the next stop, the 3 falls on the Mcloud River aptly named , Upper mid and lower. You can drive to all three but best to park a car at Upper and hike.

Hard to comprehend that Salmon previously made it all they way up here!

My companions were impressed.

I missed the Middle Falls. By the time we got to the lower falls the crowds were building.

The scenery on this entire drive is top notch with views of Shasta, Lassen, Castle Crags etc,

After passing through the town of McCloud we hit 5 south for 25 miles and hit Hedge Creek Falls.

This one has a cave at the back which made for some interesting light play,

Admittedly the water flow this year at Hedge Creek was underwhelming. AS we completed the loop into Redding we crossed over Lake Shasta (Stunning albeit with a bath-tub ring) which was chock-a-block with Lake Lice.

Feel like we scouted out a BUNCH of new territory there and have some cool ideas about where to explore next. I plan to spend a lot of time after retirement in the area getting to know the rivers, creeks, hot springs and lakes.