Swasey Recreation Area
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
238 acres3 mi of trail
Wintu YemerEnticerOwen's Run
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Shasta
Shasta has 33 miles of mapped trails, 3.1 for every square mile of land
161 acres are parks and preserves, 116 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Swasey Recreation Area (3 mi), Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area - Whiskeytown Unit (0.5 mi). 43% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
287 acres · of 10.9 sq mi of land
Trails
33 mi
3.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
161 ac
116 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
43%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.9 mi
7.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Shasta?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Shasta have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shasta is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shasta’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails3.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (33 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land116 acres of park per 1,000 residents (161 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13AParks close to home43% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Swasey Recreation Area, with 3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area - Whiskeytown Unit
Managed by National Park Service
76 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dogs usually limited
Directionsto the parking lot
Shasta State Historic Park
Managed by California Department of Parks and Recreation
25 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
287 conserved acres
4% of Shasta’s land. Who manages Shasta’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Bureau of Reclamation252 ac
National Park Service75 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits61 ac
State parks23 ac
Town or city2 ac
Federal Other or Unknown · 252 acNational Recreation Area · 75 acPrivate Conservation · 61 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 23 acLocal Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States Bureau of Reclamation Federal Other or Unknown | Bureau of Reclamation | 252 | Open |
| Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area National Recreation Area | National Park Service | 75 | Open |
| Record Heights Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 61 | Open |
| Shasta State Historic Park State Historic or Cultural Area | State parks | 23 | Open |
| Sacramento River South Trailhead Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Shasta
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Shasta
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Shasta
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
23 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.4 miHorses · 0.5 miUnpaved · 6.0 mi
Mary Lake Ditch Trail1.9 mi
Wintu Yemer1.7 mi
Trail 581.7 mi
Upper Salt Creek Trail1.4 mi
Westside Traverse1.3 mi
Kegstand1.0 mi
Ridge Trail0.9 mi
Lower Salt Creek Trail0.7 mi
Connect 30.6 mi
Rattlesnake0.6 mi
13 more trails
Enticer
0.4 miMiddle Creek Connector
0.4 miPowerline Access Rd
0.3 miOld Route 299
0.3 miStraw Trail
0.3 miStairmaster
0.2 miBlast
0.2 miFence
0.2 miOwen's Run
0.1 miValparaiso Connector
0.1 miValparaiso
0.1 miWestside Middle DH
0.1 miSalt Creek Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
7.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
7.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Shasta State Historic ParkDistrict · listed 1971
About itWhen to get out
May is the best month for walking in Shasta
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 55 | 59 | 64 | 70 | 80 | 89 | 98 | 96 | 91 | 78 | 62 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 8.9 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 5.1 | 9.7 |
July is the driest month (0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 98 °F). 9.7 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 98 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Shasta →
Next door
Shasta and its neighbors
Shasta has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shasta | 4% | 3.1 | 116 | 43% | A− |
| Centerville | under 1% | 1.6 | 6 | 2% | C |
| Redding | 7% | 2.6 | 27 | 84% | A |
| Keswick | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Shasta
Where can I hike in Shasta?
The longest trail networks: Swasey Recreation Area, 3 miles; Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area - Whiskeytown Unit, 0.5 miles; Shasta State Historic Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Shasta is conserved land?
4% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Shasta’s trails?
Swasey Recreation Area and Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area - Whiskeytown Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Shasta?
7.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Shasta?
80,482 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shasta or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,824 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Shasta have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Shasta neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →