SHASTA, MOUNT

peak (14,162 feet ) of the Cascade Range in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, northern California, U.S., 77 miles (124 km) north of Redding. An impressive double-peaked extinct volcano, it dominates the landscape (a vast panorama of tumbled mountains and valleys) for a hundred miles and is a main feature of the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. It has steam vents and several glaciers (which feed the McCloud, Sacramento, and Shasta rivers) on its slopes, which are popular with skiers and climbers. The first white man to see the mountain was Peter Skene Ogden, who named it in 1827 for the local Shastan Indians. E.D. Pearce made the first ascent in 1854. A highway has been built up the slopes to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). Mount Shasta city is at the southwestern base.