Castle Crags Century - 2019

Enjoy incredible views of some of nature's finest scenery as you ride this fabulous route.  

Castle Crags Loop - The Mountain Metric, Full Century, and Super Century rides begin with a beautiful cruise along pristine Lake Siskiyou, then test your mettle with a challenging climb up a scenic one lane windy mountain pass to Mumbo Summit along the Sacramento River. The river will be rushing and wildflowers blooming along the way! Enjoy a refreshing rest stop 4 miles from the top of Mumbo Summit on the river, with fabulous views of Mount Shasta.  Then continue the steepest part of this climb and enjoy a fantastic downhill segment with distant views of Shasta lake, the Trinity Alps and Scott Mountain.

From there, you will circle around the sky-scraping 6000 ft. spires of polished granite called Castle Crags.  Your second rest stop will be in the quaint little town of Castella at the bottom of the Crags themselves.  Riverside Park sits on the Sacramento River and is part of the Castle Crags State Park. Relax here and enjoy the shaded riverside rest stop before taking a scenic forested one lane road along the Sacramento River across and over the Pacific Crest Trail (we do not ride ON the PCT) and through the bucolic little town Dunsmuir.  

This loop continues all the way back to the City of Mt. Shasta where you enjoy a fantastic lunch in the city park, where the Headwaters of the Sacramento River emerge.  

Shasta Valley Loop - The Half Metric ride and the second leg of the Century will follow the traditional Shasta Valley Loop.  The Valley Metric and the second leg of the Super Century will follow and extended version of the Shasta Valley Loop.  This loop will lead you north through the Shasta Valley, crossing creeks and pasture lands along the way.  All the while, Mt. Shasta looms overhead as you sail through Weed to your final rest stop of the day at Bel Air Park next to the College of the Siskiyous, voted the most scenic college campus in California.   All this beauty is now yours to behold from the seat of your beloved bicycle -- the best place in the world to see the world! 

We will be offering 5 ride options:

Super Century - 142 miles with roughly 8800 feet of climbing, including both the Castle Crags Loop an extended Shasta Valley Loop.  There is just enough climbing to make this challenging, but the rewards are immense -- riding along creeks and rivers, past scenic mountain lakes with spectacular views of Mt.Shasta, Trinity Alps & Trinity Lake, Castle Crags and the Sacramento River to name just a few.  There are a few short sections of gravel on the full century, so beware -- there are also some pot holes but all in all mostly beautiful, quiet one lane paved roads... a cyclists dream!  

Full Century  - 99 miles with roughly 8500 feet of climbing, including both the Castle Crags Loop and the Shasta Valley Loop.  There is just enough climbing to make this challenging, but the rewards are immense -- riding along creeks and rivers, past scenic mountain lakes with spectacular views of Mt.Shasta, Trinity Alps & Trinity Lake, Castle Crags and the Sacramento River to name just a few.  There are a few short sections of gravel on the full century, so beware -- there are also some pot holes but all in all mostly beautiful, quiet one lane paved roads... a cyclists dream!  

Mountain Metric Century - The Mountain Metric Century is comprised of the Castle Crags Loop, which is 62 miles with approximately 6,300 feet of climbing.  This loop is where the short sections of gravel will be found and a few pot holes so please be careful.  You will find the course to be very well marked. 

Valley Metric Century - New this year, the Valley Metric Century is comprised of an extended version of the Shasta Valley Loop, which is 79 miles with approximately 2,500 feet of climbing.  

Half-Metric Century - The Half-Metric consists of the Shasta Valley Loop.  It begins in the Mount Shasta City Park and goes out to Edgewood, around Hoy Road and back through Weed.  It has 37 miles and about 2,200 feet of scenic rolling hills with stunning Mount Shasta vistas.