On this sunny October Saturday, six hikers showed up for a great fall field trip on the McCloud River Trail in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This trail features three tiered falls, with the most impressive and scenic being the Middle Falls.
The Middle Falls also mark an intermediate plant community, between the higher elevation conditions of the Upper Falls, and the sunnier, drier conditions of the Lower Falls. We were able to identify a number of species including beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), Rocky Mountain woodsia (Woodsia scopulina), Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), and Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia). The trail was also crawling with Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) caterpillars, enjoying the fall day.
Photos by Ren Redlich.
The journey from Middle to Upper Falls shifts to an incline, and a few new plants appeared: whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis), California mountain ash (Sorbus californica), and pine violet (Viola lobata), among others.
Ribes roezlii.
Rubus leucodermis.
Photos by Ren Redlich.
The Upper Falls offer a view of the Middle Falls down below, along with a picnic area where we ate lunch before heading back down.
Hike leader David Ledger remarked that it was odd that there was no white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) along the trail, but one was spotted on the way back, identifiable by the small cone-shaped catkins.
Photo taken by Ren Redlich on October 18, 2025.
This ~4-mile hike is beautiful any time of the year, but is especially spectacular in the fall. ~Ren Redlich