Redding, CALIF. – With lake levels approaching high water marks, Northern California tourism and campground officials are anticipating the best boating season in the past 15 years.

“Shasta Lake is 20 feet higher than last year at this time,” says Bob Warren, general manager of the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association and head of the Redding C&VB. “You would have to go back to 1995 to find the lakes as full.”

Arne Anderson, general manager of Shasta Recreation, which operates campgrounds for the USDA Forest Service at Shasta Lake, Lewiston Lake and Trinity Lake concurs. “It’s the first time in eight years that Trinity is within 20 feet of the crest. Shasta Lake is at 89 percent of capacity, while Trinity is at 86 percent.”

What this means for campers is that the lakes are licking at the edges of many campground sites. “At Lewiston, the sites are almost always near the waterline, but this spring and summer campers will probably be able to camp closer to the waterline at Shasta and Trinity than has been available in some time,” says Anderson.

Despite the high water, Anderson reports, “campground reservations have been coming in slower than expected. Many of the most popular sites still remain open. Though, by Memorial Day, most of the desirable sites and dates will be gone. Still, if you were to call us now (877-444-6777) or go online (reservations.gov), you’d almost have your pick.”

Warren attributes the availability of online information to shortening the reservation cycle in recent years. “People used to reserve a houseboat or their favorite campsite a year in advance. The Internet has allowed people to see what’s available. That, and low water years, got people to expect that their favorite campsite or houseboat would be available all the time. This year, they may be in for a surprise if they wait too long to reserve it.”

Of course, there’s always Redding. “Our proximity to the lakes is a strength,” says Warren. “People who prefer to stay in a hotel room have 2,500 to choose from (visitredding.com). It’s not uncommon to see wakeboard boats, drift boats and bass boats parked in hotel parking lots along Hilltop Drive (Redding’s resort drive), and some of those are from folks who waited too long to reserve their campsite or houseboat.”

Asked for insider’s tips, Anderson suggests, “The hidden secret at Trinity Lake is that it’s a great fishery for small and largemouth bass, and for families seeking creature-comfort camping, Shasta Lake’s Yurts are a great choice. Kids can pitch a tent outside; there’s space for an RV; and staying in a Yurt is fun.” Warren adds, “Our best-known waterfalls (Whiskeytown and Burney) will be spectacular this year, and bring along bikes to ride on the new 16-mile Sacramento River Trail between Sundial Bridge and Shasta Dam.”

DogTrekker, the email newsletter for northern Californians who seek advice on traveling with their dogs, recommends November as an ideal month for autumn walks with Rover.  Today’s edition recommends trails in the East Bay, South Bay, along the newly completed Sacramento River Trail in Redding, along the South Yuba Independence Trail, and in Marin County at Fort Baker on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We’ve seen fall color in each of those areas, but even if it isn’t showing when you’re walking your dog, it’s a good day anyway, because you’ve got your best friend with you!

To receive DogTrekker, CLICK HERE.

As one of Northern California’s crossroads, Redding was long a place to stop and fill up, with its restaurants then known as being more filling than fulfilling. That rep is changing with the arrival of Rivers Restaurant, a modern curve of glass and steel on a bluff overlooking a bend in the Sacramento River.

Rivers has brought showmanship to Redding, in its architecture and expansive views of the river and Mount Shasta (including a glimpse of Santiago Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge) and inventive presentations of comfort food.

Chef Cal DeMercurio takes “food you grew up eating” like “Mac-n-Cheese” and serves them in unexpected forms… an iceberg lettuce salad that’s been mesquite grilled, pulled pork made from Korean-styled meat, Chilean sea bass smoked over applewood and served on a bed of Gorgonzola cheese polenta and beef entrees, of course. After all, this is Redding where construction workers’ plates of steak and prime rib have been overflowing since Shasta Dam was built in the 1930s.

Still the standard for carnivores in Redding is Jack’s Grill, which since 1938 has been serving 10- and 16-ounce U.S.D.A. prime choice New York, Filet Mignon and Top Sirloin steaks. The Market Street Steakhouse is Redding’s upstart eatery, attracting a younger crowd than Jack’s for Kobe steaks and porterhouse, in addition to the standards. Of course, not everything eaten in Redding is red meat.

Buz’s Crab serves Red Snapper and almost every conceivable type of seafood. Though located 140 miles from the sea, inland Buz’s is the nation’s largest distributor of Dungeness crabs, shipping the arthropods to crab feeds far and wide.

For more about dining in Redding, CLICK HERE.

California Guest Services (CGS), which operates concessions in Lassen Volcanic National Park, is among four companies recently honored by the National Park Service (NPS) for environmental achievement.

The Red Bluff company received an honorable mention in the 2007 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards for its Green Buying program in which the NPS said it “significantly improved its purchases of environmentally friendly products” in food and beverage operations, serviceware and supplies, retail items, and janitorial and housekeeping.

Among its many environmental efforts, CGS was recognized for serving only organic, fair-trade certified and shade-grown coffess in all its concession operations, a change so well received by its guests that it expanded its use of these coffees to all its operations beyond Lassen Volcanic National Park. CGS strove to support local vendors by locating locally grown and manufactured products, such as Pacific Sun Olive Oil, a woman-owned, family-run, sustainable farming operation near Chico. CGS was cited such actions as helping in reducing the impact from trucking and shipping while benefitting the local economy.

Other CGS actions commended by the National Park Service included replacing plastic cups with Greenware Cups, removing 2,000 non-degradable plastic cups from the waste stream by switching to biodegradable, recycled, chlorine-free, compostable cups for use in hotel rooms, and replacing over 10,000 less environmentally preferable cups in retail operations. Similar actions replaced grocery bags, firelogs, insect candles, soap and janitorial supplies with more environmentally sensitive materials.

Of the four companies honored by the National Park Service this year, CGS was the only company not owned by the large National Park Service concessionaire, Xanterra Parks & Resorts. CGS is an operating company of The California Parks Companies, a family-owned company based in Red Bluff, Calif.

For more about the company and its operations, visit www.drakesbad.com and www.calparksco.com

CLICK HERE to see sunset on a houseboat at Shasta Lake.