The 14-mile Everitt Memorial Highway from Mount Shasta City ends in a parking lot at the site of the now defunct Mount Shasta Ski Bowl, which operated from 1958 until 1978, when an avalanche took out the lifts. The site bears the distinction of bearing the largest single-storm snowfall record ever recorded in the United States: 189 inches (15.75 feet) the week of Feb. 13, 1959.
Today picnic tables and stunning views greet summer visitors; even in a low-snow year, the white stuff lingers at these altitudes. Dogs are allowed anywhere within the Old Ski Bowl as defined by its ridge lines. A web of trails and old service roads leading over talus slopes is available to hikers with dogs. Most popular is the steep, 2.5-mile round-trip climb (1,300-foot elevation gain) to Green Butte, a 9,193-foot perch offering, on a clear day, crystalline views of Castle Crags, the Trinity Alps, the Cascades and Lassen Peak.
To view remains of the old ski facilities, follow the dirt road up to the 9,500-foot elevation mark. There's no water here, so be sure to bring enough for you and your pet.
The parking lot is at an altitude of about 7,800 feet.
