Bunny Flats & The Old Ski Bowl: Ascending Everitt Memorial Highway

The most popular and easiest way to get up close and personal with Mount Shasta whether you’re here for the views or climbing the mountain.

There’s nothing quite like driving up a mountain highway. Most often if they’re paved, it’s two lanes and if you’re lucky there’s a slight road shoulder. If it’s not paved, it’s usually a lane and a half or less. Meeting another car on the road becomes a tricky and nerve-wrecking maneuver. Luckily, driving up Everitt Memorial Highway is easier as it is both paved and well maintained when it’s open. Of course, anytime you start to get higher in elevation and the trees begin to thin out, the views get better, but the heights cause you to grip the steering wheel a little tighter. There’s a few bends where this reality is presented and the best thing you can do is to slow down and focus on the road, you’ll have plenty of chances to look out once you’ve safely made it to the Bunny Flat Trailhead Parking lot.

The photos in the slideshow below, were taken earlier in the season the following year (September 2022), to give you a different perspective of the ever-changing environment at high elevation. A number of memorial benches named in honor of several people dot the landscape and provide a nice place to sit and take it all in.

The Adventure continues at the Old Ski Bowl…

You can continue go higher up on the road, as long as you’re in the right season before the upper portion of Everitt Memorial Highway is closed for the winter. The Gallery below was taken in October of 2021, just days before the Ski Bowl area was closed for the season. Long before the modern day Mount Shasta Ski Resort, the base of Mount Shasta was home to the area’s ski destination. Informative panels at the parking lot give you an idea of what the past looked like, literally skiing down the lower slopes of the volcanic mountain. A number of avalanches eventually sealed the Ski Bowls wintertime fate, and operations eventually switched to the new resort halfway between Mount Shasta City and the town of McCloud.

Visiting the Old Ski Bowl at different times of the year when it is open, gives you an additional appreciation of the area’s natural beauty. If you visit in the summer, you’ll be greeted by groups of mountain climbers starting their trek up the mountain to ascend all the way to the summit. Late Spring, Summer, and early Fall before the cooler weather moves in reveals an array of a delicate ecosystem of plants, shrubs, and wildflowers. Remember to help preserve this sacred space, which technically belongs to the local indigenous Wintu Tribe (Above 8,000 feet), by staying on trail and packing out what you pack in.