Camping solutions, drought victims (gallery & video)
Every week this summer in California, drought has brought new recreation shutdowns and deviations in nature rarely seen before.
But there’s a place that seems untouched.
While Yosemite Falls went dry this week, the 129-foot waterfall at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park remains one of the prettiest sights across the West. It pumps 100 million gallons of pure, 43-degree spring water every day.
Above the falls, Burney Creek, a trout stream along the Pacific Crest Trail, is in near-perfect condition. Below the falls, Lake Britton is nearly full. The park has plenty of camping cabins, campsites and picnic areas set in a pine and cedar forest. At a small marina, you can rent a boat, kayak, canoe or a pedal boat. A protected swimming beach is nearby that is great for youngsters.
Yet elsewhere, the drought is claiming victims. In the Bay Area, the campground at Memorial County Park near La Honda was shut down last week from lack of quality water. At nearby Portola Redwoods, the showers were closed. At Mount Diablo State Park, rangers are asking visitors to bring their own water. At D.L. Bliss State Park near Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, flush toilets were closed and replaced with portable toilets.
Nature is changing, too. In the foothill country of the Bay Area, wine country and Sierra Nevada, oaks trees and many plants are inducing false hibernation where they shed their immature acorns, leaves or seeds. This is how trees and plants save themselves amid low soil moisture and hot temperatures, when they do not have enough water available to their root systems for photosynthesis. Then, in Yosemite last weekend, Fred Krueger reported sighting a rattlesnake at 8,000 feet near Cathedral Lake, a first at that elevation.
The panorama of drought across the state is yet sprinkled with lakes, streams and campground that still have plenty of water. They can salvage your summer.
No. 1 is McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, one of the best state parks for families, children, photographers, boaters, hikers and anglers. It is located in Shasta County, just off Highway 89, yet is far enough off the grid that the pretty, near-new camping cabins had openings on Memorial Day Weekend.
The showpiece is the waterfall. It’s a 150-foot walk from the parking area to an overlook. You can see how the waterfall is fed by Burney Creek and by subliminal flow through lava tubes, where the water oozes out of the moss in curtains.
The 1.2-mile Waterfall Loop Trail is one of the most popular hikes in Northern California. From the overlook, it is routed down 200 feet to the plunge pool for a full frontal, where you can feel the mist on your face and a light breeze created from the push of water. The trail then runs along Burney Creek, crosses on a pretty wood bridge, and then runs upstream directly adjacent to the waterfall for additional dramatic views. A few hundred yards above the brink, the trail crosses the river again, and returns to the starting point.
After taking in the falls, most head a mile to Lake Britton. It is a pretty lake, about full right now, and where bald eagles and osprey are common. All boating is permitted and water sports are popular in the central lake. A low-speed zone near the marina at the lower end of the lake is ideal for kayaks. At the upper end of the lake, fed by the Pit River and Hat Creek, the lake narrows into a rock-walled gorge.
At dawn, fishing can be good for smallmouth bass, where you seek out rocky areas and then cast Shad Raps or Husky Jerks and retrieve just over the rocks. At the head of the lake, in the gorge near the cement blocks for the train trestles, crappie fishing is good on crappie jigs at night under a bright light.
The lake also has plenty of trout – small ones were jumping all around us on our visit – and the fishing is best when the cool nights of fall arrive in September and October. For flyfishers, an excellent section of the Pit River is available below the dam (access is from a Forest Service road), and to the nearby north, you can also explore and fish Clark Creek.
The campground is wooded, pretty and huge, with 128 sites and 24 cabins. It fills on Saturday nights. If you want it quiet, reserve a site near the area with the cabins and RV sites (on the right as you drive in, not on the left).
At McArthur-Burney Falls last weekend, the fresh mist of the waterfall at the plunge pool felt like being washed by magic waters. In a year where drought and hot weather has caused a crisis at many sites across the state, this spot is one of the treasures where you can let the cool water wash all your cares away.
Tom Stienstra’s Outdoor Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 and 106.9) at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. Daily twitter at: @StienstraTom. E-mail at .
If you want to go
Where: McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, Shasta County.
Cost: $8 day-use, parking, per vehicle; boat ramp, $8 (free for kayaks); rentals available: boats, canoes, pedal boats, kayaks (sample rental, $20 for a tandem kayak for one hour); campsites $35 plus $10 for each additional vehicle; camping cabins, most $82 to $104 per night.
Reservations: Reserve cabins and campsites at (800) 444-7275 or ($8 reservation fee).
Facilities: Restrooms with flush toilets and showers, developed picnic area (including for groups), marina with boat ramp, boat rentals, small grocery/gift store.
Dogs: Dogs are permitted. Must be leashed and attended. No dogs on trails or at swimming beach.
Contact: McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, (530) 335-2777, .