Cascade Range

California’s South Cascade Range

Lush forests surround the southerly volcanoes that dot the Cascade Range. Explore its caves and waterfalls. Hike and bike trails around reservoirs and natural lakes, while rivers and streams offer rafting and fishing.

For thousands of years, natives such as the Karuk, Shasta, Wintu, and Modoc tribes coexisted and cared for the land in this region. They had no conception of seizing and owning land or of exploiting resources and people. Colonization deteriorated this human harmony with nature as natives were swept away along with their wisdom.

During the Gold Rush, “boomtowns” cropped up as people flooded the area in search of personal wealth. They claimed land, established towns and boundaries. But in the late 1800s, the new residents felt ignored by their government, a sentiment that persisted into the future.

Feeling seriously neglected by their respective state governments, citizens proposed a new State of Jefferson in a secession movement of counties along the Oregon and California border. Though just three days after the inaugural celebration in 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor put a halt to the notion. As citizens turned their attention to the far more pressing matter of protecting their country and roads were built to access resources, the idea of this separate state simply faded.

The movement has since gained cultural traction in the following decades. For most, its a romantic notion of regional pride in its great natural beauty and its uniqueness; for some, it’s tribalism, a political movement by a disparate group wanting to disconnect from the interference of oppressive government—though ironically to create a new one.

Ultimately, the borders are not what are important, but rather, the preservation of this region’s great natural beauty and the inclusion of its diverse community, however small its numbers. As for the natives, they too persevere and radiate their ancestral insight.

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Cascade Range Counties

MOUNT Shasta
Photo by Ali Giaudrone

Siskiyou County

County Seat: Yreka

• Mountain Shasta
• Volcanic spires and caves
• Waterfalls, lakes, and etlands
• Valley farmland

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Trinity River
Photo courtesy Visit California

Trinity County

County Seat: Weaverville

• Mountain forests
• Lakes and rivers

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Lassen Volcanic Hot Springs
Photo by Adrián Valverde on Unsplash

Shasta County

County Seat: Redding

• Shasta Lake and Caverns
• Mount Lassen
• Volcanic hot springs
• Rivers, lakes and waterfalls

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Susanville Ranch Park
Photo by Deanna Lewis on Unsplash

Lassen County

County Seat: Susanville

• Volcanic cinder cones and buttes
• Lakes
• Great Basin

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Modoc County
Photo by Visit California

Modoc County

County Seat: Alturas

• Modoc National Forest
• Hot springs
• Lakes and wetlands
• Petroglyphs

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