Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area, National Recreation Area in Shasta and Trinity Counties, California.
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area covers 246,087 acres in Shasta and Trinity Counties, divided into the Whiskeytown, Shasta and Trinity Units. Each unit centres on a reservoir: Whiskeytown Lake (3,200 acres), Shasta Lake (30,000 acres, California's largest reservoir) and Trinity Lake (17,000 acres). Shasta and Trinity are managed by the Forest Service, Whiskeytown by the National Park Service.
Congress established this area as a protected landscape in 1965, dividing management between the National Park Service and the Forest Service. This two-agency approach continues to shape how the land is managed and used today.
The reservoirs that define the recreation area were built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Shasta Dam, finished in 1945, is the second-largest and second-tallest concrete dam in the country, and Trinity Dam is among the highest earth-filled dams in the world. Trinity Lake's Trinity Heritage National Scenic Byway is a driving route through this dam-building landscape.
The Whiskeytown Unit is reached from Interstate 5 near Redding, with 70 miles of multi-use trails in its backcountry; the Shasta Unit has boat ramps, campgrounds, shoreline picnic areas and equestrian and mountain biking trails. Trinity Lake's Trinity Heritage National Scenic Byway is a driving route, and Lewiston Lake is fished for trout.
The recreation area supports over sixty pairs of osprey and thirty pairs of nesting bald eagles, along with deer and bear. Shasta Lake, when full, has 370 miles of shoreline, more than San Francisco Bay. Trinity Dam ranks among the highest earth-filled dams in the world.
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