Shasta Dam Spillway in use again

Even though we are just barely over an average rainfall year, they opened up some valves to keep the reservoir from overfilling/overtopping. Always a tough call, trying to balance conserving water in the lake, but not being so greedy that they lose control and get flooding downstream.

Shasta Dam Spillway 2-22-2024

Castle Crags, late April 2023

About 25 minutes drive on Interstate 5 north of Redding, you come across a spectacular sight. Granite spires rising through the forest to the west. This is Castle Crags State Park. Pull off the highway for hiking, camping, or just plain gazing upon the beauty of it all.

Technically, these are granite pluons. Molten granite has formed beneath the surface in these shapes, cooling more slowly than the rock around them. The spires are what you can see uncovered as the surface eroded around them. Seeing that, and realizing the time scale involved in their formation, one is left to ponder the insignificance of a single human lifetime in the face of geologic time. Yeah, it’s brief.

Castle Crags CA Castle Crags CA

Music in the video is an Excerpt of “Eternal Path” by Craig Padilla and Skip Murphy (me) from the CD Phantasma on the Groove Unlimited label. Gobsmacking scenery courtesy of planet earth. It’s Really Redding.

A Shasta Sunset 2019

lol, I tried to post this June 10, but never hit Publish evidently. So here is a sunset shot from last summer.

According to my insider sources, Lake Shasta is as full as it will be for 2019, right now.


While it will be a terrific year for boating, longtime lakers know that the early summer will be filled with driftwood at the launches, and scattered randomly throughout. Especially after the Delta Fire. Boat with caution. But, do boat. It’s going to be an epic lake year!

Map of Shasta Lake… or Lake Shasta

Is it Shasta Lake, or Lake Shasta? Anyway, here’s a nice looking commercial map of Lake Shasta. Click to enlarge.

Redding is a resort town, although we often seem to forget that. This map makes it clear. You can get a pdf of it to print at:
http://www.northstate.news/
Northstate news also publishes several local newspapers and magazines to which you may subscribe, including Shasta Lake Bulletin, Intermountain News, and After 5.

Redding is a cool resort town

Driving around downtown, and bicycling the Sacramento River trail, it’s sometimes easy to forget Redding is also a world class resort town near one of the biggest recreational lakes in California. Our busy season starts Memorial Day weekend. Here are some recent scenes from a couple marinas on the Pit Arm all ready for the 2018 seasonal rush.



Only a few days until high season. The economy has been cooking along, lateley. We’ll start seeing some high-end/big-money boats this weekend. New money from out of town. All part of the fun.

High water release at Shasta Dam

A series of views of the Shasta Dam spillway running at high water release I captured on Feb 12 2017. This water flows into the Sacramento River. I believe the flow was around 70,000 cubic feet per second at this point.

I think this was about the same time that state officials became seriously concerned about the Oroville Dam. Shasta looks solid, though. Click to enlarge:

A TV station in Medford Oregon called and asked permission to use my footage of the Shasta Dam spillway, which I found to be gratifying. I asked them to attribute it to Really Redding.

Take in the Lake Shasta Dinner Cruise

Deinner cruise Skip

Few northstate activities are more Really Redding than a day on Lake Shasta. So what could be better than a Dinner Cruise on the largest boat in the lake? The lovely Karry and I recently went out for dinner with some friends old and new, on a perfect Shasta evening, and here are some images I captured.

The Dinner Cruise runs Friday and Saturdays in Summer. It takes place onboard the Cavern Queen, which departs from the Shasta Caverns facility up Interstate 5 to O’Brien on Shasta Lake. Reservations are needed, as seatings are obviously limited. A little planning rewards you with a memorable dinner in an unmatched setting. The cruise runs from 6 to 8 pm. The buffet style meal neatly compliments the scenery. We saw deer and eagles, along with campers and waterskiing families out enjoying the 300+ miles of Shasta shoreline. My friend told me that if I wanted to explore other coastlines, it might be worth looking into CruiseAgency and if they are at the standard of the one we just been on then you must check it out.

Below, click on the image to their website. Thank you Captain Dave and the Lake Shasta Dinner Cruise crew! You’re Really Redding.

Lake Shasta Dinner Cruise

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Read the Shasta Lake Bulletin

Here’s a hyperlocal publication relevant to the Shasta Lake region.
Shasta Lake Bulletin2

Seen here are both an archived edition and the online version. Click on either to link to their site for the current news.Shasta Lake Bulletin
We keep a link in the sidebar as well. The more you know…