Trinity County

Discover
Trinity County California

Trinity County is Spectacular Any Time!

Ask anyone in Northern California about Trinity and you'll hear:
Trinity Alps, clear mountain lakes, primaeval forests, wild rivers and streams, get-away-from-it-all camping, hiking, Northern California fishing and hunting, backpacking... these are the things for which Trinity is known.

It's rough, it's rugged, and it's in-your-face-gorgeous! From Spring flowers and rushing waters, to Summers in the wilderness, to Autumn in the Alps, and on into the stunning views of Winter, Trinity is sure to please the outdoors-man in us all!

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Turbulent Terrain, A Scarcity of People,
Bracing Beauty... Priceless

High Country Wilderness Lake;
CC Gary Robertson

Trinity County is where you go to get away from it all. The population density is around four people per square mile.

Trinity County contains no traffic lights, freeways, parking meters, or incorporated cities. Not even Weaverville.

There were no chain stores or restaurants until 1999. There still aren't many.

The accommodations in Trinity County are more often called inns, motels, lodges, cabins, bed-and-breakfasts, or cottages than hotels.

Is there anywhere else in California that can make claims like these? I think not!

But Trinity has a lot to offer if what you're interested in is time-forgotten and remote places in nature's wonderland! Explore the Holy Trinity: Trinity Mountains, Trinity Alps Wilderness, and Trinity River - a nature lover's Paradise!

Discover the Trinity Alps

Mountains, Meadow, & Deer;
CC Robert Nagy

The Trinity Alps are part of the Klamath Mountains, which includes some of the most isolated, untamed, and unvisited wilderness areas in California.

The scoured-out mountain lakes with their crystal-clear waters and the serrated ridges of the mountain tops are evidence of ancient glacier activity; travel up to Thompson Peak and discover there's one glacier that still remains.

I remember my dad telling stories about spending weeks with his brother as teenagers, doing a little Northern California camping in the Trinity Alps during the summers. Think about it - no GPS devices, no cell phones, no Internet - no one knew where or how they were for weeks at a time! It's hard to imagine today!

But they would hunt and fish to put food on the campfire, trek the forest trails, and skinny-dip in the lakes and streams, never crossing paths with another soul the whole time!

Discover the Trinity Alps Wilderness

Fawn Crossing a Creek;
CC Gary Robertson

Consisting of over a half-million acres, the Trinity Alps Wilderness encompasses over 400 miles of trails, the headwaters of the Salmon and Trinity Rivers, small lakes and ponds nestled into glacial cirques, year-round snow-covered peaks, thick forests, granite slabs and pinnacles, gold mining relics, and a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Favorite activities include hiking and backpacking (map and compass skills are indispensable), cycling and mountain biking the many loops and fat-tire trails, gold panning (there's still gold to be found in them thar hills!), rock climbing, fishing in the lakes and streams for trout, steelhead, and chinook, and the hunting of bear, deer, and band-tailed pigeons.

Another favorite pastime is wildlife watching. I found this video by Gary Robertson of a close-enough-for-most-of-us encounter with a Mountain Lion, I thought you'd enjoy. Gary lives in Trinity County and spends a lot of time in the wilderness photographing the views and the wildlife. I'm impressed he was able to keep his cool enough to keep shooting!

Mountain Lion Sighting;
(CC) Gary Robertson

Best time to visit the Trinity Alps Wilderness is between late June and late July, or - if you want to avoid the crowds (which really aren't very crowd-like) - head up in the Fall.

Insider Secret: Just between you and me - shh, don't tell anyone - from what I'm told by people in the know, the fishing is best during Spring and Winter!

Discover the Trinity River

Trinity River;
Photo Courtesy of Fish & Wildlife

A completely wild and untamed river prior to the 1960s, the Trinity River then enjoyed a footloose and unfettered tumble from headwaters to confluence, but alas, no more.

Dammed twice in the 1960s to provide irrigation and municipal water for the Central Valley Project in California's agricultural center, most of the river's water was diverted South, resulting in near disaster to the salmon and steelhead populations.

With minimum annual flows finally established for the Trinity River in the early 1980s, the waters downstream of the Lewiston Dam were restored sufficiently to support runs of salmon and steelhead (maintained partly by hatcheries), and to provide opportunities for whitewater rafting and kayaking.

It was finally designated as the Trinity Wild and Scenic River by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1981.

Discover the Unholy Trinity: Trinity Lake

Trinity Lake through the Trees;
CC Cinden

Trinity Lake is actually a reservoir, created by the 1962 damming of the Trinity River through the efforts of then U.S. Senator Clair Engle.

Though the lake is tree-lined and beautiful with grassy shores and water that's warm enough for swimming during summer months...

Though it provides near-idyllic conditions for houseboating, water-skiing, fishing, and the like...

Locals have never really forgiven Senator Engle and the U.S. government for taming their precious Trinity River with a dam!

An effort was made to re-name the lake in honor of Senator Engle after his death, but it was so unpopular locally that most would not use the new name. Even today, if you were to ask for directions to Clair Engle Lake, you might just be sent to the local sewage treatment facility instead (as a prank, of course).

We'll have more to share with you about Trinity County in the
coming weeks; things like:

Trinity County Attractions
Attractions to visit and attractions to participate in!

Trinity County Beaches
Even with no coastline we'll find beaches!

Trinity County Communities
There are no incorporated towns, but there are villages!

Trinity County Parks and Preserves
Designated wilderness, national forests, and wildlife areas!

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Discover Trinity County

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