517 Travel Guide

Turtle Bay Exploration Park sits on the banks of the Sacramento River in Redding, California, a 300-acre complex dedicated to nature, art and history. The flagship Turtle Bay Museum, designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw with a cable-stayed timber walkway over the river, houses permanent exhibits on natural history, Indigenous cultures and the ecology of the Sacramento Valley. The campus also includes the 200-acre McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, a wildlife rehabilitation exhibit and the historic Paul Bunyan Bedwell Mill. The Sundial Bridge, a glass-decked pedestrian span by Santiago Calatrava, is a Redding landmark, seamlessly blending scientific exploration, artistic beauty and outdoor leisure.

Mount Shasta is a massive stratovolcano of the Cascade Range, 4,322 m high, its conical snowy peak rising dramatically above northern California's plains and forests — the region's most striking landmark. Often wrapped in cloud, it holds sacred meaning in Indigenous lore and remains a spiritual destination. Around it lie waterfalls, alpine lakes and conifer forests; spring wildflowers carpet the base, winter brings skiing and snowshoeing. Climbers often take the Avalanche Gulch route, but it's steep and demands snow skills. For casual visitors, the base town, lakes and waterfall trails already convey the mountain's grandeur and quiet.