A renewed Burney Falls

Tiny planet view of Burney Falls

Well, not a renewal of the falls itself, instead the trail down to the falls has been massively redesigned and improved. But first, here’s the famous falls in action:

Sure, you’ve seen that view before. This year, it’s really flowing strongly due to our recent fairly normal wet winter. Well, heavy winter rainfall used to be normal. No matter what, the water you see here flows from an underground aquifer. Not far upstream from the falls, the creek bed is nearly dry.
Here’s your first glimpse of the beauty as you approach:


A couple more shots:

Burney falls in the mistTiny planet view of Burney Falls

The new trail work is amazing. It looks really authentic, and is in keeping with the forestry style. It’s like something from Yosemite or Yellowstone. It also looks like it’s always been there. If you’ve been there in the recent past, you may recall when the trail was more of a “suggestion.” Cutting corners and scrambling over loose rocks invited the adventurous and foolish city folk to injury. Not great for a park with as many tourists as this one attracted. Yes, the trail is cleaned up and well defined (with handrails!). More civilized, but, still in keeping with the woodsy ethos. I say it’s a big improvement.

Newly refurbished trail at Burney FallsNewly refurbished trail to Burney Falls again.

There are still more rustic trails:

Misty trail into the park at Burney Falls

We camped in the Rim Trail campground. It was lovely, quiet and serene.

Motorhome at campground in Burney Falls Park

No hook-ups. No electricity. No wi-fi. No cell service. At first it was bit of withdrawal for me, I’m sad to admit. Then, it became a sublime respite. An unexpected break with a positive impact. Highly recommended. But good luck to you getting here. We are told the campground is fully booked for the summer of 2025, and they start reservations 6 months in advance. But there we are. Just like Yosemite, etc. park popularity comes with a downside.

A few more images:

Burney Falls image

Burney Falls State Park is located about an hour’s drive east of Redding on highway 299E. In so many ways, it’s ReallyRedding.

Approaching Mt Lassen

The often snow covered vista of Lassen Peak graces our eastern horizon from Redding California. I can see the mountain from my bedroom window in north Redding. Here is a brief aerial view captured in the spring of 2025 approaching the park from the west.

Mt Lassen in spring 2025 with Manzanita Lake in the foreground.

A brief timelapse of Castle Crags

A very brief timelapse I captured in late Spring of 2024 featuring the famous Castle Crags of southern Siskiyou County. More a learning exercise than anything. I hope to do more and longer timelapse videos.

Snow dusted Xastle Crags from Spring of 2024

Timelapse sunrise over Redding CA 4/12/2024 – 5 seconds long.

sunrise 4-12-2024

Did this TL yesterday. Turned out nice.

sunrise 4-12-2024Skip Murphy

While 5 seconds may be my attention span lately, bear in mind that this took a lot longer to shoot and edit. I shot a frame every 10 seconds and you see it here at 24 frames per second. So, roughly 128 shots taken over 20 minutes or so. Took about an hour to edit it to what you see here. Makes you appreciate those really long timelapses you see some artists do.

 

Redding’s Garden of Lights 2023

A quick aerial overview of Redding’s Garden of Lights from 2023. Music excerpt “Live illusions” by Craig Padilla and Skip Murphy from the CD “Analog Destination,” recorded in Redding California in 2008, courtesy of of Groove Unlimited NL. Thank you again this year, Redding! #thisisredding, #gardenoflights, #craigpadilla

 

Garden of Lights at night video by Skip Murphy
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Where can you see the real night sky near Redding?

Light pollution. That sounds ugly, but that’s what it is. For many places on the modern earth, the night sky is not filled with stars. Fortunately, nearby to Redding you can see the Milky Way and other wonders of celestial majesty with the clarity more familiar to our immediate ancestors. 


light

This segment of map comes from here: Light Pollution Map

Local dark sky enthusiasts head west to the Whiskeytown Visitor Center parking lot for quick access. But it looks like a camping trip to Old Station in the east might be best. Just a bit further. I’ve seen several fantastic Milky Way shots with Mt Lassen in the image, so evidently that’s a good choice as well. Check out the amazing work of local photographer Cory Poole for a 2024 Calendar of jaw dropping images like this:

Milky Way and Lassen by Cory Pool

Makes great Christmas gifts!!! 

It’s Really Redding.