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What's Open? What's Closed?
Open:
- The restrooms outside the Visitor Center are open daily from 9am to 9pm.
- The Visitor Center is open daily, 9am to 5pm. An entrance pass is required to recreate at Whiskeytown. Passes are available at the Visitor Center or online at Recreation.gov.
- Most trails have reopened since the 2018 Carr Fire but a couple remain closed due to dangerous conditions. See the chart below for the current trail status..
- All Picnic Areas have reopened.
- Brandy Creek Beach (walk-in only during winter), Oak Bottom Beach, and East Beach are open. Whiskey Creek Group Picnic Area Beach is open but only accessible by walk-in or boat-in.
Closed:
- While almost all roads and trails have been restored and reopened since the Carr Fire, a couple of trails and a primitive roadway remain closed due to the Carr Fire. This fire burned 97% of the park and over 100 structures within Whiskeytown in 2018. It was the most destructive fire in the history of the National Park System.
Current Status of Park Roads
Please be advised that roads in the park are occasionally subject to closure on short notice due to special events, maintenance, weather conditions, or fires.
Also please note that when roads are closed to vehicles, they are still open for non-motorized recreation (hiking, running, mountain biking, horseback riding).
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Road
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Status
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Details
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Highway 299
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Open
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The highway is suitable for any type of passenger vehicle, motorcycle, and trailers. Do not speed and please be alert while driving on the highway and be prepared for turning and slow-moving vehicles - fatal accidents occur on Highway 299 within the park every single year.
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South Fork Mountain Lookout Road
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Open
(Obtain gate code from Visitor Center)
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Open to non-motorized recreation year-round. Otherwise, to drive this road, you must first obtain the gate code from the Visitor Center or by calling Park Dispatch at 530-242-3431.
South Fork Mountain Road is a narrow, winding, gravel roadway, with expansive views towards the top of the mountain on clear days. Drivers should make turns widely and be on the lookout for oncoming utility vehicles, hikers, and mountain bikers.
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John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive
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Open
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The road is suitable for any type of passenger vehicle, motorcycle, and trailers. Kennedy Memorial Drive may be closed at the dam during winter storms. This roadway is paved.
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Whiskey Creek Road
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Open
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The road is paved to the boat launch and picnic area. After the bridge, the road is gravel, narrow, and winding.
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Paige Bar Road
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Open
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The road is suitable for any type of passenger vehicle, motorcycle, and trailers. This road is paved from Kennedy Memorial Drive to Whiskeytown Environmental School, and gravel thereafter.
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Crystal Creek Road
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Open
(Subject to temporary winter weather closures)
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The paved section of this narrow, winding roadway stretches from Highway 299 to the James K. Carr (Whiskeytown Falls) Trailhead.
Above Carr Trailhead, the road is dirt and gravel; high clearance and four-wheel drive is recommended.
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South Shore Drive
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Open |
This scenic, six-mile stretch of unpaved road is steep, narrow, and winding. Drive with caution and drive slow, as there are many blind curves.
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Brandy Creek Road
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Open |
This is a narrow, winding, gravel roadway leading to Brandy Creek Primitive Campground, Sheep Camp Primitive Campground, Brandy Creek Falls Trailhead, and Shasta Bally Road.
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Mill Creek Road
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Open
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Steep, narrow, winding, gravel roadway.
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Shasta Bally Road
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Closed to vehicles for the winter
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Closed to vehicles except telecommunication contractors and park staff. This is a steep, narrow, winding gravel roadway. Open to non-motorized recreation.
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Peltier Valley Road
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Open
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From Paige Bar Road, Peltier Valley Road is open to vehicles as far as Peltier Bridge Primitive Campground. From Brandy Creek Road, vehicles may drive on Peltier Valley Road to Kanaka Peak Trailhead. Peltier Valley Road is a narrow, winding, steep, gravel roadway.
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Mule Town Road
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Open
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High clearance recommended for this narrow, winding, gravel roadway. Drive slowly, as there are several blind curves.
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Current Status of Boat Launches
- Whiskey Creek Boat Launch = Open
- Brandy Creek Marina Boat Launch = Open
- Oak Bottom Boat Launch = Open
- Don't Move a Mussel! To protect Whiskeytown Lake from the aquatic invasive Golden Mussel, please clean, drain, and dry your boat before heading out on the reservoir.
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