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Mossbrae Falls

Address: Mossbrae Falls, California 96025

Mossbrae Falls is a 52 feet falls and is located in Dunsmuir, California in Shasta County. The waterfalls are not high but very wide and have lots of greenery. To get to the falls there are 2 ways that I know of. One is trespassing illegally at your own risk through private property at Shasta Retreat Center and a Railroad track owned by Union Pacific. You can’t park inside the Shasta Retreat Center. Some locals informed us that you can also access the falls via the Hedge Creek Falls trail by crossing a river. Hedge Creek Falls is about 5 minutes away from the Shasta Retreat Center.  There is also a street sign that says no parking inside the retreat center and no Mossbrae Access. You can easily miss the Shasta Retreat Center’s entrance since it is situated on a corner. If you reach the Yak’s Restaurant or the Chevron gas station you went too far.

Once you get to the Shasta Retreat Center entrance which is on Scarlett Way. You have to walk downhill and make a right turn towards the bridge. After you pass the bridge you will land on railroad tracks and there is a sign that says private property trespassing is prohibited  The moderate walk/hike along the Railroad track is about 1.2 miles. The right side of the Railroad track is wider and closest to the river. Watch out and listen for oncoming trains and wear good hiking shoes due to lots of very sharp and large rocks along the tracks. Bring bottles of water and sunscreen during summer because there are no shaded areas along the tracks.

Before you reach the bridge there is a trail on the right side through the trees that will lead to the waterfalls. You will be able to see and hear the waterfalls while you are on the trail. The water is very cold and the rocks are slippery. And there is a huge rock or boulder in the middle of the falls which is a great photo opportunity but it is difficult to go on top of it. Bring your lunch and just enjoy the scenery. Remember that you are trespassing on private property at your own risk and may receive a fine or get hit by a train. Enjoy!

Let us know if you have any questions or what you think about Mossbrae Falls after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Thank you and have a great day.

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Upper King’s Creek Meadows/Lake Helen/Lake Emerald/Lake Manzanita

Address: (Park Headquarters) 38050 Highway 36 East Mineral, California 96063

All these 4 tourist spots are located within Lassen National Park and are all within a few minutes away. Upper Kings Creek Meadows is a great spot to take pictures with the brownish/yellowish color of its meadows. There is also a small creek on the right side of the meadows for a great photo opportunity. Lake Helen is situated 8,000 feet above sea level and is located South of Lassen Peak and west of Bumpass Mountain in Shasta Cascade. Lake Helen is a great place to relax, enjoy the crystal clear water, the stunning views of Lassen Peak, and the surrounding forest.

Lake Emerald’s green-colored pristine water is due to it being shallow. It is near the south entrance into the park. We even saw a deer eating, enjoying the shade and beautiful summer weather. Lake Emerald is located after the Bumpass Hell parking area. Lake Manzanita is a popular destination for camping, fishing, and kayaking. There is also a 1.5-mile hiking trail for people to enjoy and watch the sunset.  

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Lake Helen, Manzanita, and Emerald after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Bumpass Hell

Address: (Park Headquarters)38050 Highway 36, East Mineral, California 96063

Bumpass Hell is located inside the Lassen National Park and is one of the main attractions of the park. It is the largest hydrothermal area at Lassen National Park and it is 16 acres of boiling springs, mud spots, hissing steam vents, and roaring fumaroles. The largest and hottest fumaroles in the park have been measured as high as 322 Fahrenheit. Bumpass Hell is a 3-mile roundtrip moderate hike from the parking area and may take 2 hours to complete the entire hike. The hike to Bumpass Hell will take you through an uphill and downhill path and can get up to 8,000 feet elevation. The hiking path is a two-way narrow trail so please share and give way to other hikers.

Bring lots of water, hiking poles, and sunscreen during summer to help you with the hike.  There are a lot of areas that have a nice view and photo opportunities. There is also a lot of lavender-colored flowers garden along the way. You will know when you are very close to the Bumpass Hell area as it will smell like rotten eggs due to natural occurring gases, steamy and roaring fumaroles. But please stay on the wooden board pathway for safety as it gets too hot and steamy. You may break through a thin crust hiding acidic boiling water underneath if you wander away from the wooden path.

There is also a small Vista area where you can see a view from the top of the entire Bumpass Hell landscape. If you can’t find a parking spot at Bumpass Hell, try to park at Lake Helen outside of the white line. You can even walk down a path that will lead you to Lake Helen to relax.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Bumpass Hell after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Crystal Creek Falls

Address: Crystal Creek Falls, California 96033

Crystal Creek is one of my favorite falls since you can get closer to the waterfalls and an easy hike/walk to this beautiful waterfalls. Crystal Creek Falls is the only man-made waterfalls in Whiskeytown National Park. It is a 0.9 roundtrip hike with a paved hiking trail. The area also have a public restroom available but the parking area is made up of gravel and sand. Try to come in early on weekends due to limited parking area and it gets too crowded with both locals and tourists.

You will see a sign in the entrance and from there you will still need to drive through a narrow 2 way road for about 20 minutes until you hit the parking area. Watch out for deers crossing the narrow road as we had encountered 2 deers on our way back out. There will be a sign that says Crystal Creek Falls and Whiskeytown Falls. After the end of the paved walkway, you will need to go down on a small dirt path to access the waterfalls. The water falls area is not too big and it can get too crowded. You can also bring your swimsuit to swim or get closer to the waterfalls and enjoy the refreshing water during summer.  We saw a few people climbing up towards the second tier of the waterfalls. You can also visit the Whiskeytown lake either before or after your visit at Crystal Creek Falls.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Crystal Creek Falls after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site to your friends and family. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Yak’s on the 5 Restaurant

Address: 4917 Dunsmuir Avenue, Dunsmuir, California 96025

“Yak’s on the 5” restaurant is located in Dunsmuir, California at Shasta County. It is famous to I-5 travelers and locals alike. It is famous for it’s Artisan Burgers and world famous sticky buns. Recently named by Yelp as one of the top 100 food destinations in the nation. I ordered the BBQ chicken wings glazed with dark beer and chocolate bbq sauce with their famous fries. My wife ordered the BBQ spare ribs, while my daughter ordered the popular Artisan bacon overload burger. And for dessert we had the famous sticky bun with a caramel and baileys/bourbon sauce. They have available tables and chairs outside for customers. We even get to pick a tag with famous people’s name and they will call that name once your order is ready. We were lucky to have picked Robin Williams which is from the Bay Area (San Francisco).

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Yaks on the 5 after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site to your friends and family. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Sulphur Works

Address: 38050 Highway 36 East Mineral, California 96063

Sulphur Works is located inside Lassen National Park and about 1 mile north of the      Southwest park entrance. Sulphur Works is said to be the Volcanic center of the ancestral Mt. Tehama. It is about 0.6 mile out and back trail and can be seen while driving along the main road of State Route 89. Its a very short walk from the parking area and public restrooms are available. The boiling Sulphur and steam holes are viewed from the sidewalk and closest you’ll get to a boiling pit.

A short path loops around steam vents, bubbling mud pots and rumbling vents called fumaroles. When you are closer to the active hot mud, it will smell like rotten egg due to  other natural gases. The road going to the area is winding road with no guard rail so please drive slowly and watch for pedestrians.  There is also a 2.2 roundtrip hiking trail leading to Ridge lake near the Sulphur Works.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about The Sulphur Works after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site to your friends and family. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Nepenthe Restaurant

Address: 48510 CA-1, Big Sur, California 93920

Nepenthe Restaurant is perched high above overlooking the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It’s about a 10-15 minutes drive from Pfeiffer Beach. They have 2 parking lots are available for guests. One is located in front of the restaurant and the other is on an unpaved road right on the main road before the entrance. They are open at 11:30 am and if they are busy you can check out the other cafe called Cafe Kevah which is situated on the lower level. The restaurant and the Cafe pretty much have the same view.

During our first time visit, we arrived at 11:30 am and only waited for 10 minutes. But on our second time around, we arrived at 12:30 pm and waited for at least 30-40 minutes. They provided us with a pager that works even though we were in the gift shop or taking pictures around the area. They only have an outdoor dining area available as of now due to Covid and everyone is wearing a mask but you can remove it when you get to your table to eat. All the outdoor seatings have a panoramic view. We ordered the famous Ambrosia Burger, Chicken, and the Shrimp BLT sandwich. They were all served on a very delicious soft French roll. For dessert we ordered the famous Triple Berry pie baked with raspberries, strawberries, and boysenberries with walnut toppings.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about The Nepenthe Falls after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Pfeiffer Beach (Keyhole/Purple Sand)

Address: Pfeiffer Beach, California 93920

Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur California is known for its purple sand. Most of the sand is composed of quartz, garnet which is mostly responsible for the sand turning purple. We didn’t get lucky the first time we visited at around 11 am. The Beach was closed due to parking space limitations. The beach parking area only has 65 parking spaces available and the entrance fee is $10 per day use. We got lucky during our second visit. We arrived in Pfeiffer Beach at around 8:30 a.m.

Finding the place is very tricky as it doesn’t have signage. It’s about 1 mile from the entrance of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It only has yellow signage that states ” Narrow road, No RV’s trailers”. We had to make a quick right turn and downhill to Sycamore Canyon Rd. Be careful for oncoming cars as they are ascending. From there it gets exciting as you have to drive for at least 15-20 minutes on a very rough and narrow road that is being shared by 2 cars. You just have to figure out how to maneuver in oncoming cars. We reached the end of the road and self-paid for a day-use fee. There were two parking areas and a public restroom. The keyhole arch is going to be on the right side of the beach. It was sunny but windy when we visited so be prepared to bring a jacket just in case.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about The Pfeiffer Beach after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Bodie Gold Mine and Ghost Town

Address: CA-270 Bridgeport, Ca. 93517

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuinely eerie, and historically preserved California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that had a population of 10,000. Small amounts of gold were discovered in the hills north of Mono Lake. It’s located 13 miles east of Highway 395 on Bodie Road Hwy 270. The drive is a very unique, challenging, and memorable experience. We hit the end of a paved road and it was off-road (gravel and sand) for at least 3 miles one way. We drove slowly and safely along the rough dirt road. We were lucky that we had rented an SUV with a road adaptive feature that helped us maneuver through it.

The entrance fee per adult person is $8, and $5 for children ages 4-17, and children ages 3 and under are free. We were also given a brochure that shows the history of Bodie and each individual buildings. The mining carts and burned houses reminded us of a scene from Indiana Jones and Old Western movies. We walked through the area and saw all the original old houses, vehicles, tools, artifacts, and furniture with different states of decay. The one that is visible in the middle of the town is the Gold Mill building with original machinery that processed gold extraction. There was also a gift shop where we purchased our souvenirs. Public restrooms are available near the parking area. The site has 2 locations for parking and is made up of gravel and sand. Everyone was wearing masks and social distancing due to Covid-19. Reminder to bring lots of water and sunscreen. Just a reminder that your car will be very dirty and dusty.

Tips: Try to drive or rent an SUV since you will be driving slowly on an unpaved road with a combination of sand and rocks. There was a lot of dust created by other cars passing through on both ways.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Bodie State Historic Park after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Bixby Bridge

Address: Bixby Creek Bridge, CA-1, Monterey, Ca. 93940

Bixby Bridge is the most photographed bridge in Big Sur California due to its aesthetic design, graceful architecture, and settings. It took us 2 and a half hours to drive from San Francisco to Big Sur. There were a lot of winding roads, Vista points, turn-outs, and some areas don’t even have guard rails.

We passed through the first bridge and thought that was Bixby Bridge but it wasn’t. The next Bridge is the Bixby Bridge and the arches of Bixby are a lot bigger. The parking area at Bixby Bridge Vista point gets too crowded and they have another parking area across the bridge which was unpaved road and lots of rocks. When we went to Bixby Bridge the second time at around 8:30 am on a Saturday there were only 3 cars parked. We were very careful while crossing the road since the area has lots of traffic congestion. Also check the weather before going because the view of the winding roads, bridges, and tourist spots are a lot better when it’s a beautiful sunny day. Enjoy and stay safe.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about The Bixby Bridge after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.