Wellness Guide To Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta is a small mountain town, named after Mt. Shasta — a single peak with a height of 14,179. The mountain itself is breathtaking. However, a bit to our surprise, the town seemed a bit underwhelming at first… but every day we fell more in love with it.
We were there for 5 days + by the end of our stay, we didn’t want to go home! Mount Shasta brings about such an eclectic crowd — outdoor enthusiasts [we saw so many PCT hikers!], soul seekers, retireres, + lots of families. It truly was a special place — there’s a reason Mount Shasta is a spiritual vortex!
Eats + Drinks
#1] Finlandia Cafe + Bar: The best place to go for coffee in Mount Shasta!
#2] Seven Suns Coffee + Cafe: Very popular cafe for breakfast… definitely recommend going early, as it gets packed
#3] Northbound Coffee Roasters: The only roaster in town — open M, T, + W!
#4] The Garden Tap: *MUST! Pizza + beer garden + live music… it had the absolute best vibe
#5] Alua’s Thrive Bar: Acai bowls + avocado toasts + bagel sandwiches + kombucha on tap!
#6] Berryvale Grocery: For all your grocery + picnic needs ; )
Wellness + To Explore
#1] Go to a crystal store: By far the most crystal stores I’ve seen ever… especially in such a small town. This place looks so cute, but it was closed when we were visiting!
#2] Esteem Specialty Esthetics: A cute spa in town. I didn’t get any treatments, but loved their vibe!
#3] All the outdoor adventures: Hiking [will share favs below!], waterfalll chasing, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, paddleboarding, kayaking, all the things!
#4] Bodywork, energy healing, or spiritual retreats: There are no shortage of metaphysical practitioners in Mount Shasta. You can find them via google or ask for recommendations in the crystal stores! Use your intuition on what feels right to you. Also… Check on this article on NPR as to why Mount Shasta draws so many spiritual seekers.
#5] If you are visiting in the summer, check out their summer concert series in the park every Sunday. It was so much fun + it felt like the entire town went to this. Highly recommend!
All The Hikes
So, so many hikes! All magical. Loved these:
- McCloud Waterfalls Trail — 3.9 out + back, you’ll see 3 waterfalls! This was our fav trail
- Heart Lake Trail From Castle Lake — 3.0 out + back. Once you get to Heart Lake, there’s an epic vista that looks back over Castle Lake + Mt. Shasta
- Burney Falls Loop Trail — 1.0 mile loop to see a massive waterfall, considered one of California’s most beautiful waterfalls
- Lake Siskiyou — 7.3 mile loop around the lake. *Highly recommend going to this lake to swim, even if you don’t do the loop! It’s so pretty! There were so many people kayaking + paddling boarding on it, too
- Lassen Volcanic National Park — Lassen is about 2 hours from Mount Shasta. We did the Bumpass Hell Trail [2.7 mile out + back], which we liked… but sadly, 70% of Lassen Volcanic National Park burned in the Dixie Fire in 2021, so I’m not sure I’d recommend it right now ; (
- Mount Shasta — 12.7 mile out + back… extremely challenging. Isaac did this solo as a day hike, + he wish he would have had a guide with him. A lot of people break it up into a 2 or 3 day hike!
Stay
I was obsessed with where we stayed — highly recommend this airbnb! LOOK HOW CUTE IT IS! If it’s booked when you are trying to go to Mount Shasta, check out this hotel [also has a hostel].
Pro Tips
- We went during July + it was VERY HOT. Like 100 degrees hot. We tried to stay out of the sun as much as possible during the day.
- The farmers market is on Mondays from 3:30–6pm May through October!
- Mt. Shasta is only an hour away from Ashland, OR, which is another super cute town to explore!
- Chances are, you’ll experience Mount Shasta on a road trip… rather than flying into an airport. It’s 4 hours north of San Francisco!
Have you been to Mt. Shasta? Let me know if I missed any of your favorite spots!
Elisabeth