Disclaimer: Many thanks to Visit Redding and Sheraton Redding for hosting my family and me for our stay, and as usual – all opinions are my own!
A couple of weeks ago we took a weekend trip to Redding, which is about a 4 hours drive from the Bay Area off of I-5. We like to drive in at night to avoid any traffic. We usually use Redding as a pit stop to Oregon and don’t stay for more than a day, so we were excited to explore the town. Now that it’s fall/winter we love going to the mountains and Redding is a great basecamp for outdoor activities and enjoying nature! The Sacramento River runs along the middle of the town and there are tons of trails to walk along within the town and a few minutes outside of town!
Where to stay in Redding:
We stayed at the Sheraton Redding Hotel At The Sundial Bridge. It is in such an ideal location for a family trip. It’s a short walk from the Sundial bridge which spans over the Sacramento River, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, and a variety of paved walking trails. The hotel is fairly new and the rooms are super spacious. We loved being on the first floor befcuase we had easy access to their fire pit! They had fresh olive trees and rosemary in the landscaping which gave off the most amazing fragrance!
What to Do in Redding (2 full days):
McCloud Falls and Castle Crags State Park Hike
On our first full day in Redding, we took an hour’s drive to Middle McCloud Falls to do a short hike. Along the drive, you’ll pass Mount Shasta and Lake Shasta so you can stop and take the view in at scenic points! There are three waterfalls along the hike; lower, middle, and upper falls. Each waterfall has a parking lot that is just a short walk from the waterfall view, but if you want to hike the trails it’s about a 3.6-mile walk! We parked at the Middle Falls parking lot and decided to walk to Upper Falls since it was a short 15-minute hike. If you have little ones who might wander off the trail I suggest driving to upper falls as the hiking trail gets quite narrow at some points with a steep cliff on the side.
We then drove 5 minutes to lower falls and hiked around that area. At lower falls you can go right up to the waterfall! This portion is paved and is stroller friendly with just a few steps you have to go down initially to get to the path. The water is so crystal clear and contrasted against the tall pine trees, it’s just magical!
On the way back to Redding we stopped at Castle Crags State Park, about 20 minutes from McCloud Falls. We did a 20-minute hike along the Vista point trail where we got sweeping views of the crags and of Mount Shasta! Since it was peak autumn season we got tons to see of pretty fall foliage, though I believe this hike would be so pretty in the snow too!
We stopped for lunch in the town of Mount Shasta at Bistro 107 where Elara annihilated a Greek Salad and Rhut and I split. veggie burger (10/10 would recommend!)
Garden of Lights
That evening we were in for a treat! We walked to Turtle Bay Exploration Park to check out the Garden of Lights! It is right across the Sundial Bridge where we got to see the sunset over the mountains before entering the park.
At night time, they turn on over a million lights, put on some holiday music, fire up the fire pits, and have food trucks parked outside. You can sip on hot cocoa while you stroll through the light show filled with tons of photo opportunities. This was by far Elara’s most favorite part of our trip! She made us walk through the show twice! They even have Santa and reindeer during the month of December and you can make s’mores at the fire pits! It’s open from 11/19 to 12/31/21. I highly recommend purchasing tickets online, it’s a few dollars more at the door.
Walking through the light show made me feel like I was in a winter wonderland, the creative director at the light show has done a spectacular job creating a piece of art that gets kids and adults alike, excited!
After our walk through the bright winter wonderland, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, Mosaic. This is was probably one of the best meals we had in a long time! The Brussel sprouts were so perfect. Not bitter at all! The dressing on them gave them a nice tangy zing and they were crisp to perfection. Warning the kids cheese pizza is large and can probably feed 2-3 people!
Sundial Bridge and Turtle Bay Exploration Park
The next morning we walked over the Sundial Bridge during the day and hit up the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and Museum. To be honest, you could easily spend the whole day here! There is so much for little kids to do. There are multiple playgrounds, a zoo, a nature museum, and a garden. We started off the day with a private animal encounter ($75/pp) where we met Timber the beaver, Therian the Opossum, Mohave the tortoise, and more! Elara was a little hesitant initially but when she saw Rhut and I being comfortable she got into it.
The caretakers were super knowledgeable and shared lots of fun facts about each animal. The majority of animals at the park are there for rehabilitation.
Whiskeytown Lake
Afterward we hit up Theory coffee to grab a little caffeine (highly recommend the pastries!) and then drove 20 minutes to Whiskeytown Lake where we rented a canoe (~$15/hr) from Headwaters Adventure Company.
The owners kayaked along with us guiding us along the edges of the lake. The lake water was crystal clear and it was definitely a workout to paddle the canoe! I suggest bringing pants that can roll up and shoes that can wet /flip flops since your feet might get wet getting the canoe in and out of the water.
Afterward, Pampas Clay Co. had set up a lovely picnic for us to relax and replenish ourselves with along the lake coast. We let her know we were vegetarian so she had a lovely cheeseboard made by Cask and Cleaver Co. for us. The setup was so pretty and super Instagram-able!
If you have time I suggest hitting up Crystal Creek Falls, which is a .5 mile hike round trip to a pretty waterfall. We didn’t have time but a lot of you guys mentioned checking it out!
For dinner, we hit up downtown Redding where we walked around and checked out all the murals in town. The I.O.O.F hall is the oldest brick building in downtown Redding, built in 1888. It was revitalized this last year and has been an open space for the local community. Viva Downtown Redding is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the cultural, social, and economic development of Downtown Redding. What was once windows has transformed and now local artists have painted mini murals and high will continue to be placed under the eight arches. They team up with The Art Hunger and throw art shows in the space. The Art Hunger Winter gallery is on its way and will activate December 3rd-23rd this year!
There are tons of cute little art installations downtown along with small shops. We checked out the antique shops and Gather, a shop that sells only locally made goods! We ate dinner at Cinders Pizza and grabbed some ice cream there too!
If you have more time:
Check out:
Manzanita Lake – near Lassen National Park
Rare Air Trampoline Park – get the kiddos exhausted for a long nap!
Shasta Rock Climbing Club – We spent 2 hours here bouldering. You can rent shoes and gear from them and it was a great way to help build confidence and problem-solving in kids!
Overall, Redding was a great place for a family-friendly weekend getaway into nature. There is so much to do here and the downtown area is slowly growing into an adorable little town. If you’re looking to do something outside of the usual Yosemite/Napa trip, definitely go visit Redding! Also check out my trip in my Instagram highlights!
