Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area

Yesterday, March 31st, I was able to drive over to Whiskeytown National Rec Area and get a beautiful photograph of Whiskeytown Lake and I look down on it from the mountains above.  In 1965, Congress authorized 42,000 acres as Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.  Isn't it breathtaking?

Sparkling Water.  Cool Forests.  Wildlife.  Gold!  Whiskeytown is nestled among the hills and valleys of the Klamath Mountains in Northern California.  Over 1,100 plant and animal species live there!  Can you imagine?  Some include the Gray Pine, Blue Oak, Black Bear, Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass, Purple Finch and Yellow Warbler.  Lots of people also try to pan for gold in them thar streams, too!  According to the NPS, back in 1850 Charles Camden and Levi Tower became friends and partners in San Francisco.  They sailed in search of Trinity River's mouth, then over to Whiskeytown northern side.  Camden built a one-room cabin and a mining operation, saw mill and water ditch...later a toll road and bridge.  Finally he built a larger home (still standing) where you can do gold mining activities today.  Tower made his living by providing food and shelter to miners.  He built, with his profits, a 21-room Tower House luxury hotel, gardens and orchards, but the hotel burned to the ground in 1920.  In 1935 construction began on the Central Valley Project - a project to move water from northern California to drier areas farther south.  At Whiskeytown, engineers blasted a 10.5 miles long, 17.5 foot diameter tunnel through solid granite to divert water from the Trinity to the Sacramento River system.  The resulting lake you see above brought many benefits like recreational opportunities, flood control, hydroelectric power and a dependable water supply.  When the watershed is healthy, the ground is like a sponge and absorbs winter's heavy rain and snow...occasionally mudslides happen if too much water happens at one time.

Whiskeytown come to this 36 mile shoreline and 3,200 acres of reservoir for lake activities for boating, sailing, kayaking, fishing, scuba, swimming, wading, paddleboarding, wakeboarding and windsurfing.  On the land, 39,000 acres surround the lake with mountain trails.  There is also birdwatching, camping, hiking, gold panning, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature study, photography, picnicking, sightseeing and wildlife viewing.  Whew!  So much for one small area.  Be sure to check out their website for relative info before going to Whiskeytown and there are a couple of campgrounds as well...Be sure to stop in at the Visitor's Center on Kennedy Memorial Drive and drive around the Kennedy Drive down to Brandy Creek.  There's plenty of things to do.

The Visitor's Center is small but very nicely done.  It's about 30 miles east of Redding, California so if you're heading up or down I-5, take a side trip over.  There is no address that I could find for the GPS, but it's right after the old historic ghost town of Shasta - not to be mistaken for Mt. Shasta city.  Shasta has some pretty cool historic stuff there - don't forget to stop, but to save time, here are photos and the story on their website.

After I left Whiskeytown, I headed up I-5 toward Mt. Shasta.  We were supposed to spend the night there, but we found out we couldn't sleep overnight in the rest areas in California.  I still stopped along my route to take photos of Mt. Shasta covered with now at a scenic viewing area with the girls as Scott took the RV and went ahead of me when I went to Whiskeytown.  It was a warm 75 degree day, so it was very enjoyable.  Once I met up with Scott, I got the bottom photos looking southeast of Mt. Shasta from the Weed Rest Stop - about 5 miles north of the City of Weed.  Such a beautiful day with blue skies, and snow capped mountain with green pines and daffodils.  This is a super great place - either locations - to take the family for some camping and enjoy nature.

Taken at a Viewing Area looking north to Shasta

At the Weed Rest Stop

Easter Daffodils at the Weed Rest Stop

But, we had to push onward and we ended up spending the night at the rest stop in Talent, Oregon since you are not allowed to spend the night in California at a rest stop.  The Talent Rest Spot is located at mile marker 22 on the South side of the road.  We just went one exit past it and then crossed over the freeway and back down to the rest area.  It was wonderful!  VERY clean, convenient with multiple bathrooms and lots of parking for both car and truck or RV.  We parked on the last site so we could open the slides without disturbing the truckers.  I was going to photograph it but totally forgot.  Sorry.  However, here is a nice website off all rest stops along I-5.  It is actually the site for ALL rest stops in the US, so this is a good one to keep handy if you're traveling.

Coyote Valley RV Resort

We have officially arrived in Springfield, Oregon and I thought now that I have a few minutes I can catch up on the past few days and work on the blog.  We spend March 28-30 back in our old stomping grounds in Morgan Hill, California.  Boy, I sure missed this place.  I always loved it there.  Once we left Pinnacles, I could see Morgan Hill's peak in the distance and I knew we were getting close.  When we lived in Morgan Hill, we lived right up the side of the peak at 580 Bonnie View Ct. and when I was scanning photos, I didn't see any of the house...but then again, I didn't run across any Morgan Hill or many Tracy photos so they must still be back in storage.  Scott and I took the opportunity to drive up to the house and snap a few pictures before the current residents started wigging out.

The round goes up at about a 40% steep incline
and then around the bend to our house at the top of the mountain.

The house looks just the same - even with the broken garage door!

Looking down into our backyard from the top of the hill.

A "Bonnie View" looking down into the valley.  The sun was going down
so you can't see the rest of the street...

We also took the chance to head over to our old shopping center on Monterey Road and East Dunne.  When we lived in Morgan Hill we used to walk down the hill and over to the library, downtown or this shopping center.  Originally, we were going to get my yummy scrumptious silver-dollar tacos at El Jaliscense, but it was closed due to a broken pipe, so after I wiped away the tears, we went to Moon's Kitchen in the same shopping center, which I also adore.  Moon's has THE BEST Sushi and Bento boxes.  Simple yummy and their Asian salad is so great!  The best part was that the food was exactly as I remembered it.  Here's their menu.

Check out the lady's hair - talk about poofy!  Whew!

YUMMY!!

Now, to write a bit about our RV Park - Coyote Valley RV Resort.

Coyote Valley is located right on the border or Morgan Hill and San Jose.  The address comes up as both locations so take your pick.  It's an absolutely high end, luxurious resort with VERY clean site, park, building, bathrooms, and green space!  They even had a personal dog trainer and walker right in the park!  They were selected in 2016 as a top park with 10/10+/9.5 Good Sam rating, a 10/10/10 AAA rating and a 5-W Woodall rating.  Rates for this resort are $70 per night on the deluxe pads and $80 per night weekdays going $5 for the weekend rate.  The weekly rate is $490 and the monthly rate is $1,410.  Here's the Park Map.  We were in site 11 and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I told Scott the next time we come to San Jose, we need to stay much longer and just enjoy ourselves.  This trip was just way too short to enjoy the park.

The ONLY drawback to this location is that it's right on an exceedingly busy road - Monterey Highway AND it's right on the train line.  With the commuter train and the regular trains rumbling constantly, it makes for a bit of noise issue and you'll also hear honking of cars.  If the road and noise wasn't there I'd give this place a 5-star rating hands down.

Internet was a bit sluggish for some reason - I'm not sure why but there are about 127 sites vying for the local Wi-Fi connection.  Perhaps that's why.  Many of the people here live here yearly.  Our site was the premium 3 paved pad.  Each site had grass behind the unit and hedges separating each unit.  It's very park-like in feel.  Not one unit had junk or clutter everywhere and you really felt like you were at a resort.  We could put up the dog fence - but not in the grass...go figure.  But, the dogs did very well.

Our site just before we left.

The backyard ground are lush and green.

More of our Green Space

Lovely Landscaping Throughout

Even the 2 pad spaces were fairly well sized.

Typical 2 pad and 3 pad site look like this.  The extra concrete pad really makes you feel like you  have some good space!

Also, Coyote Valley Golf Resort is right by the resort and you get 20% off green fees.  The resort will even drop you off and pick you up at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, Coyote Creek Golf Club.  Check in time is 2:00 p.m. and check out is at a generous 12:00 noon time.  Despite the noise (which I'm sure you eventually get acclimated to), I'd stay there again in a heartbeat.  There are NO pull-through sites - all are back in but the road are wide and the resort has people to assist you in backing into your site.

Amenities Included:

• 127 Deluxe and Premium Sites - 2 pad or 3 pads (all paved!)
• 20/30/50/100 Amp Skits
• Free Wi-Fi
• Free Satellite TV
• Clubhouse & Entertainment Center including a full kitchen and 60" TV)
• Lark Salt Water Pool and Spa
• Free Coffee All Day Every Day
• Convenience Store
• Concierge Services
• Curbside Recycling and Trash Pick-Up at YOUR site
• Pet Park
• Dog Walking
• Outdoor Games: Badminton, Ping Pong, Horseshoes and Putting Green)
• Private Patio with built-in BBQ and sitting area
• RV Wash Services
• Club & Group Events
• Propane
• Laundry with 6 washers and 4 dryers
• Fitness Center
• Resort Events and Activities
• Firepit
• Chemical-free Lawns and Gardens
• 30 miles Trail for walking, running or biking
• AAA and Good Sam 10% Discount

The Clubhouse was really clean and tidy.  I was impressed with the upkeep.  Bathroom and showers were immaculate.  Just a relaxing place to be...seriously.

Club House

Rec Area

Large Convenience Store

Coffee Bar

Registration Area

Pool...

...and Hot Tub

Exceptionally CLEAN Restrooms and Showers

Laundry...Small, but Adequate for the amount of people.

Doggie Play Area

Fitness Room Upstairs

Rig detailing service

Coyote Valley RV Park was a GREAT place to stay and I'd highly recommend it.  If you can tolerate ear plugs for a bit I'd bring a pair for the first night...Scott wore his but I don't and it didn't bother me too much.  5 Stars!  The noise brings it to a 4.5 but it's the resort I'm rating.