Built between 1938 and 1945, Shasta Dam is one of the largest concrete dams in the United States and the second tallest in the country when it was completed. The visitor centre offers free guided tours of the dam's interior — a surprisingly impressive look at Depression-era federal engineering on a massive scale. The spillway, which drops 480 feet when it runs, is taller than Niagara Falls. Shasta Lake behind the dam is a popular houseboat destination; the Sacramento, McCloud, and Pit rivers all flow into it.
Shasta Dam
Massive Depression-era dam with free interior tours
A story
Construction of Shasta Dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s flooded the town of Kennett and several other communities beneath what is now Shasta Lake. On particularly low-water years, the ruins of Kennett's brick buildings re-emerge from the water — chimneys, walls, and street foundations intact after decades of submersion.