Liability waiver info:
California Native Plant Society requires all field trip participants to sign an annual waiver of liability. Once signed, you will be covered for all events in the applicable year. Thank you!
- Shasta Chapter CNPS’s 2025 waiver can be signed here: WaiverSign.
- Shasta Chapter CNPS’s 2026 waiver can be signed here: WaiverSign.
Join the Shasta Chapter CNPS, along with friends from our local Sierra Club, for a couple of outdoor adventures—one in December and the other on New Year’s Day!
Upper Sacramento Ditch Trail
Sunday, December 7, 9 AM
- Shasta Chapter CNPS and the Shasta Group of Sierra Club are sponsoring this field trip on the Upper Sacramento Ditch Trail. We will start at Shasta Dam and follow the trail two miles down and then back again for a total of four miles. This trail follows an old gold mining water ditch, that contours around each canyon. Much of the trail is shaded by California bay trees; maidenhair ferns grow on the trail’s banks. The shrub varieties of both Oregon oak and interior live oak also grow here. This is an easy trail with an elevation gain of about 200 feet. Few wildflowers will be in bloom, so we will concentrate on learning trees and shrubs of the area; a plant list will be provided. Wear boots and bring water; dogs on leash okay if you clean up after them. Bring an umbrella for light rain; heavy rain cancels. Meet at 9 AM at the west side of Redding City Hall’s parking lot on Parkview Avenue to carpool to the trailhead, or meet us at the Shasta Dam parking lot around 9:20 AM. This field trip is limited to 15 people. Please RSVP to dsledger49@gmail.com and be sure to sign the 2025 liability waiver (please see opening paragraph, above).
Photo taken November 11, 2025 © David Ledger.
New Year’s Day Field Trip
Westside Trail, Redding
Thursday, January 1, 2026, 9 AM
- Join the Shasta Chapter CNPS on their traditional New Year’s Day field trip on the Westside Trail to the “Top of the World!” If it is a clear day, we will have views of Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta, the Trinity Alps and the Sacramento Valley. This has been an annual event for Shasta Chapter CNPS since about 2010, this year co-sponsored by the Shasta Group of Sierra Club. This easy to moderately difficult hike is a little under four miles, with a 650-foot elevation gain, through the hills of west Redding. The trail passes through the Carr Fire burn where the shrubs and trees are recovering nicely. Only the manzanita and coyote brush will be in bloom, but the toyon are loaded with red “berries” (actually pomes). Rain cancels; for drizzle or light rain, bring an umbrella. Dogs on leash okay if you clean up after them. Meet at 9 AM at the end of Kilkee Drive, Redding. Limited to 25. To reserve a space, email dsledger49@gmail.com and be sure to sign the 2026 liability waiver (please see opening paragraph, above).
For more information about either of the above events, please email me at dsledger49@gmail.com. ~David Ledger, Field Trip Chair
