A Mountain On The California-Oregon Border Is An Eerie Vacation Spot Straight Out Of A Sci-Fi Epic

There's no denying some places around the globe carry a mysterious energy that stirs up inexplicable questions when we experience them. Stonehenge, in England, is one example, as are Peru's Nazca Lines and the Plain of Jars in Laos, a puzzling archaeological site known as Asia's Stonehenge. One natural wonder with mysterious energy looms high in the American West: Mount Shasta. An active volcano in Northern California's Cascade Range, Mount Shasta holds great spiritual meaning for Indigenous peoples and modern mystics alike. But it is also shrouded in reported supernatural occurrences like UFOs, lizard people, and other phenomena that keep people talking, questioning, and pilgrimaging there. 

Legend has it that deep underneath Mount Shasta's imposing presence — and the surrounding coniferous Shasta-Trinity National Forest — there's a hidden crystal city called Telos, inhabited by tall, white, long-haired folk clad in loose garments. These ghostly figures are supposedly the descendents of the Lemurians, an ancient species of large lemur-like people said to have disappeared underwater somewhere in the Indian or Pacific Ocean. A 19th-century zoologist named Philip Sclater started this story when he tried to hypothesize why lemur fossils would be discovered in Madagascar and India, but nowhere else on those continents. The theory is long debunked, but that hasn't stopped people from latching onto the notion and claiming the survivors of Lemuria migrated to beneath Mount Shasta.

While Mount Shasta is itself magnificent at 14,163 feet, there's certainly something more moving here — and mystical. This aura is enhanced by the naturally-occurring lenticular clouds that look like UFOs and have sometimes been mistaken for them. 

Long before Mount Shasta became associated with the Lemurians, the mountain carried a distinct spiritual energy recognized and respected by the Indigenous tribes in the area. While Shasta is not the only volcano in the range — there are several along the breathtaking volcanic scenic byway – it's slightly off-path, as if set apart intentionally. Some attribute Mount Shasta's magnetism to it being a root chakra, or "energy vortex," connecting humans' energy with the Earth's.

There are several Native tribes around the Cascades who each have Creation stories and spiritual associations tied to Mount Shasta. For example, the Klamath tribe believe Oregon's Crater Lake was created by Mount Shasta's creator spirit, Skell, fighting with the spirit of the underworld who inhabited Mount Mazama (the volcano that became Crater Lake). In another tradition, the Wintu believe they sprang from a sacred spring flowing through Mount Shasta, and traded with local salmon to gain ability to speak. Those springs are considered sacred and today, some tribes return to the mountain regularly to perform rituals or give offerings to their Creator.

"Ascended Masters" is a non-Indigenous spiritual practice drawn from Mount Shasta. Ascended Masters believe they can shape-shift into immortality, controlling their own physicality. Early 20th-century author Guy Ballard lived at the foot of Mount Shasta and frequently hiked there. In the 1930s, on one of his hikes, he claimed he met Saint Germaine, a medieval mystic and alchemist. Saint Germain imparted wisdom to Ballard that he developed as the Ascended Masters practice, involving reincarnation and a blend of theologies known as I AM Activity.

Mount Shasta is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, built up through millenia via layers of ash, lava, and soil. Indeed, Mount Shasta is so massive that it, in effect, creates its own weather. Those UFO-shaped lenticular clouds are the effect of humid air masses hitting the mountain and cooling as they are pushed upwards. Experts say Mount Shasta's eruptions are episodic, with the most recent major eruption occuring about 3,200 years ago. Volcanic activity also created lava tubes in the mountain, giant caves of cooled molten rock that visitors can hike in today.

Mount Shasta City is an idyllic little mountain town in the foothills of the volcano that draws adventure enthusiasts, road trippers, mystery buffs, UFO hunters, and transcendence seekers alike. The city is located right on Interstate-5, a little over 3 hours north of Sacramento, California, and just over an hour south of the Oregon border. The nearest major airports are in Sacramento and Reno, Nevada, though both are several hours away by car. 

Many businesses in Mount Shasta City cater to spiritual pilgrims: There are numerous metaphysical bookstores, crystal shops, and tours selling guided vision quests, meditations, and ceremonies in sacred spots. Bigfoot is thought to roam here, something some Indigenous people also believe, calling it "the keeper of the woods." If it's not lemurs, white giants of Telos, Bigfoot, or aliens in UFOs, some also think reptilian humanoids, aka Lizard People, dwell in the lava tubes. There's certainly something for everyone at Mount Shasta!