Shasta Dam has the highest overflow spillway in the world. The second largest dam in the United States. The sheer mass of the concrete is 6.5 million cubic yards, weighing 15 million tons. Free daily tours and visitors center. 

Standing wide and tall across the Sacramento River in northern California, Shasta Dam backs up water for more than 35 miles to form beautiful Shasta Lake. Each year millions of visitors come to California’s largest reservoir to enjoy camping, swimming, fishing, boating, or just taking in the scenery aboard a houseboat- but recreation is only one small benefit of the lake and the dam that forms it.

In addition to flood control, Shasta Dam provides a clean, dependable water supply for irrigation, municipal and industrial use, wildlife habitat maintenance, navigating the Sacramento River and power generation that benefits millions of people miles away from the shores of Shasta Lake’s recreational paradise.