If you’ve driven up I-5 and looked east at Mount Shasta and thought “I’d like to be on that thing for an afternoon,” this is the hike.
Trailhead
Bunny Flat. 6,860 feet. There’s a paved parking lot, a pit toilet, and usually a few climbers gearing up next to their cars. Free to park. From Mount Shasta City, it’s about a 25-minute drive up Everitt Memorial Highway. The road is paved the whole way.
The hike
Bunny Flat to Horse Camp is 1.8 miles one way, gaining about 1,000 feet. It’s a wide, sandy, easy-to-follow trail through hemlock and red fir. There’s one stream crossing in spring that’s ankle-deep at most. You will pass climbers carrying 50-pound packs heading up to Helen Lake. You will be carrying a Nalgene and a sandwich. You will feel like you are getting away with something.
What’s at Horse Camp
The Sierra Club’s Shasta Alpine Lodge — a stone cabin built in 1922, still maintained, still open to anyone. There’s a caretaker in summer, a logbook to sign, and a spring (Olberman’s Causeway) where the water comes out of the ground cold and clean. Bring a bottle. This is one of the few places on the mountain you can drink directly from a source without filtering.
The view from the meadow above the cabin
Avalanche Gulch sits right in front of you — the standard climbing route on the south side. You can watch climbers as little white dots a mile above you. Behind you, the Klamath Range stretches west. On a clear day you can see Lassen 90 miles south.
What to bring
Water, a sandwich, sunscreen (you’re at 7,500 feet and the air is thin), a wind layer. That’s the whole list.
When to go
Late June through early October. Earlier than that, the trail is still under snow. Later than that, you might hit the first storm.
Travel light reality check
You can do this from LA in a weekend. 10-hour drive on Friday night, sleep in your car at Bunny Flat, hike Saturday morning, eat in Mount Shasta City, drive home Sunday. It’s a lot of driving for a 1.8-mile hike. It’s also worth it the first time, because the mountain is doing all the work.