Castle Crags Potential Wilderness Additions
Size: Approximately 7,439 acres in 2 units
Managing agency: Shasta-Trinity National Forests
Location: Four miles southwest of Mount Shasta City in Siskiyou County
Description: The Castle Crags Potential Wilderness Additions are a paradise of lakes, streams, meadows, and ancient forests all in the shadow of the massive granite spires in the adjacent protected wilderness. Major attractions include Castle, Heart, and Little Castle lakes, and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, which traverses the area.
The potential wilderness additions shelter many unique forms of life, especially rare plants. For example, the area contains two plants unknown to science until very recently, and at least eight additional rare or unique plant species, including the insect-eating California pitcher plant.
The area's ancient forests are rich and particularly diverse, and include the critically endangered Port Orford cedar, a tree that only lives in a few places in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. The Port Orford cedar growing in the area are among the easternmost populations of this species and may actually be genetically distinct from their coastal kin. At 6,400 feet in elevation, the potential wilderness additions' cedar groves are the highest populations known.
The Port Orford cedar is gravely imperiled by an imported root fungus usually spread by spores attached to heavy equipment and other vehicles. In some places in the Klamath and Siskiyou mountains, nearly every Port Orford cedar has been destroyed by the fungus. Fortunately, the potential wilderness additions' groves remain uninfected at this time, thus making it imperative that the potential wilderness additions be protected as wilderness.
For additional information, please contact info@calwild.org
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
