Touching down at Redding Regional Airport in Redding makes it easy to explore, with nearby places close enough for simple day trips. Redding sits at the top of the Sacramento Valley, where the river runs cold and clear beneath Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak. The feel is sunny, outdoorsy, and easygoing, a town of river trails, houseboat rentals, and long summer evenings at the waterfront.

Standout experiences around Redding: - Cross the Sundial Bridge, Santiago Calatrava's glass-decked span at Turtle Bay Exploration Park - Bike or walk the Sacramento River Trail loop from downtown to Keswick Dam - Rent a houseboat or a kayak on Shasta Lake, 15 minutes north - Swim at Brandy Creek and hike to Whiskeytown Falls in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area - Take the boat and bus tour into Lake Shasta Caverns - Tour Shasta Dam, one of the tallest in the country - Fly fish the lower Sacramento, one of the best trout rivers in the West - Walk the gold rush ruins of Shasta State Historic Park on the way to Weaverville

Redding is a gateway to the volcanic north of California. Lassen Volcanic National Park and the boiling mud of Bumpass Hell are about an hour east, Burney Falls pours 129 feet over its mossy cliff an hour northeast, and the town of Mount Shasta sits an hour north under the big snowy cone. Weaverville and its 1874 Joss House Taoist temple are an hour west through the Trinity Alps foothills. Summers run hot, which is why locals spend them in the water, and spring brings wildflowers to the oak hills. Redding is where the valley ends and the mountains start.