Northern Mountains - California - page 670

Near Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
Shasta-Trinity National Forest Headquarters TOURIST INFORMATION
( 530-226-2500; 3644 Avtech Pkwy; 8am-4:30pm Mon-Fri)
South of town, in the USDA Service Center near the airport. Has maps and free camping
permits for all seven national forests in Northern California.
Getting There & Around
Redding Municipal Airport (RDD; http://ci.redding.ca.us/transeng/airports/rma.htm ; 6751
Woodrum Circle, Redding) is 9.5 miles southeast of the city, just off Airport Rd. United Ex-
press flies to San Francisco.
The Amtrak station ( www.amtrak.com ; 1620 Yuba St) , one block west of the Downtown
Redding Mall, is not staffed. For the Coast Starlight service, make advance reservations
by phone or via the website, then pay the conductor when you board the train. Amtrak
travels once daily to Oakland ($48, six hours), Sacramento ($26, four hours) and Dun-
smuir ($28, 1¾ hours).
The Greyhound bus station ( GOOGLE MAP ; 1321 Butte St) , adjacent to the Downtown
Redding Mall, never closes. Destinations include San Francisco ($42, 8½ hours, four
daily) and Weed ($23, 1½ hours, three daily). The Redding Area Bus Authority (RABA;
www.rabaride.com ) has a dozen city routes operating until around 6pm Monday to
Saturday. Fares start at $1.50 (exact change only).
DETOUR AROUND THE I-5 DOLDRUMS
A good alternative for travelers heading north and south on I-5 is to drive along Hwy 3
through the Scott Valley, which rewards with world-class views of the Trinity Alps. Com-
pared to rushing along the dull highway, this scenic detour will add an additional half a
day of driving.