For a (normally!) great view of the Three Shastas⎯Shasta Dam, Lake Shasta, and Mt. Shasta⎯get out and hike the Flanagan Trail to Chamise Peak. This is a hike of moderate difficulty through manzanitas, various oaks, and ponderosa and gray pines, but not a chamise shrub in sight!
Out and back, you’ll travel 4.8 miles altogether while gaining about 800 feet of elevation on your way to the summit. Fellow CNPS member and good friend Bob Madison accompanied Baxster and me to the top of Chamise Peak on a smoky Tuesday morning.
Along the way we saw plenty of native plants in fruit including coffeeberry, canyon live oak, California snowdrop bush, California buckeye, toyon, poison oak, and chaparral honeysuckle. Here’s a short slideshow of some of the fruits we saw (all photos by Chris Harvey):
Although the smoky skies prevented us from seeing Mt. Shasta this time around, the views of Shasta Dam and Lake Shasta did not disappoint!
Photo by Chris Harvey.
Getting to Chamise Peak is easy. Head north on Interstate 5 and take Exit 684 (Pine Grove Avenue). Turn left and travel 2.2 miles to Lake Boulevard. Turn right and drive 0.9 miles to Flanagan Road. Turn left onto Flanagan Road and drive 1.1 miles until you come to a gate. Park and find the Flanagan Trailhead, which will take you to Chamise Peak. –Chris Harvey
