Magee Trail

Approach

I chose to take the back door approach and accessed from Hwy 299 west of the town of Burney. The dirt forest service road listed as 4m001, 16, and 33N16 on the Lassen National Forest Map is located on the south side of Hwy 299 within 2 miles of Burney. There aren’t many options here, but bring a map of the Lassen National Forest. There are lots of unmapped branches off this road, but I just stayed on the main road and kept heading south until I got to the Magee turnoff.

Turn off the forest service road onto road 32N48 to the Magee Trailhead. This trail is no longer maintained and is not signed, but the road is good. Drive to the end of the road. The road has been extended to the Wilderness Boundary and there is a bare metal pole at the end of the road. The trail starts on the right side of the pole. There is parking for 3-4 cars at the trailhead.

The forest service roads are in good shape and there should be no problem getting to the trailhead in a 2WD vehicle in the summer time.

Route Description

The Magee Trailhead starts on the right side of the bare metal pole in the parking area. The parking area is at about 6,000 feet elevation. The trail has a good grade and is a little rocky. This trail is not maintained by the forest service any more and it shows. There are many blow down trees across the trail in the first 3 miles. I probably stepped over 50 trees as I followed the trail east and then north up a ridge.

The trail is easy to follow. There is no water along the way. Most of the trail is through a forested area and there aren't any views until you get above the tree line at about 7,800 feet.

Once out of the tree line, there is still brush along each side of the trail, but you can see the bump on the ridge line ahead that is named Magee Peak. Just before the trail drops off into the crater and goes on to Magee Lakes, there is a sign along the trail indicating that is 1.5 miles to Magee Lake. There is a "use" trail at this point that heads up the crater rim to Magee Peak. Crater Peak now comes into view on the north side of Magee Peak.

This "use" trail continues directly over Magee Peak, drops down about 175 feet to a saddle and then goes up the south ridge to Crater Peak. This trail is easy to follow even though it goes through brush.

Crater Peak is the highest point on the crater rim surrounding a large glaciated crater that includes Magee Peak and Fredonyer Peak.

Round Trip is 8.0 Miles and took about 4.25 hours in the middle of a hot afternoon in July. Round Trip Elevation Gain is 3,000 feet.

Essential Gear

No technical gear is required. Bring all the water you need because there is none on the trail. Early in the season bring lots of DEET also.

Miscellaneous Info

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Images

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