{{Short description|Campground on Mount Shasta, California}} {{for|the locality in Australia|Horse Camp, Queensland}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} '''Horse Camp''' is a property on Mount Shasta owned by the nonprofit Sierra Club Foundation. It is a {{convert|720|acre|km2|adj=on}} enclave within the Mount Shasta Wilderness of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California, United States. It is located at approximately {{convert|7950|ft|m}} elevation at the lower end of Avalanche Gulch, the most popular climbing route on the mountain.
thumb|alt=photo of Shasta Alpine Lodge at Horse Camp on Mount Shasta, CA|Shasta Alpine Lodge at Horse Camp on Mount Shasta. Avalanche Gulch is to the right of the chimney.
Horse Camp is accessible from the Bunny Flat trailhead by hiking approximately {{convert|2|mi|km}} on a developed trail with an elevation gain of about {{convert|950|ft|m}}.
The most notable feature of Horse Camp is the Shasta Alpine Lodge, a climber's hut constructed in 1923. Mostly indigenous materials were used for construction, including volcanic rock and Shasta red fir. The lodge can be used for emergency shelter for climbers. It contains a guest register, a library of mountain books, and displays about Mount Shasta.
Other features of Horse Camp include a freshwater spring, low impact campsites, and a solar-powered composting toilet facility.<ref>http://www.sierraclub.org/foundation/horse_camp|Shasta Alpine Lodge at Horse Camp - The Sierra Club Foundation, retrieved September 19, 2009</ref>
The lodge measures about {{convert|450|sqft|m2}}, and was financed primarily by a donor named Hall McAllister at a cost of $6,725. A caretaker is on duty during the summer months. The first caretaker (1923–1934) was Joseph Macatee "Mac" Olberman (1862–1946). With the help of volunteers, Olberman built a 950 yard long flagstone paved path leading uphill from Horse Camp to facilitate access to the Avalanche Gulch climbing route.<ref>Roper, Steve, photographs by Wilson, David Stark, Above All: Mount Whitney + California's Highest Peaks, Yosemite Association and Heyday Books, Berkeley, 2008 {{ISBN|978-1-59714-107-9}}</ref> This structure still exists and is known as Olberman's Causeway.
The camp and the lodge are open year-round, even when no caretaker is on duty.<ref>Porcella, Stephen F. and Burns, Cameron M., Climbing California's Fourteeners: The Route Guide to the Fifteen Highest Peaks, The Mountaineers, Seattle, 1998, {{ISBN|0-89886-555-7}}</ref>
Horse Camp is utilized as a mountaineering base camp for ascents of Mount Shasta by Avalanche Gulch, Casaval Ridge, the West Face Gully and other routes on the south and west side of the mountain.<ref>Selters, Andy and Zanger, Michael, The Mt. Shasta Book: A Guide to Hiking, Climbing, Skiing, and Exploring the Mountain and Surrounding Area, Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-89997-404-0}}</ref>
== References == <references/>
{{Coord|41.3722|-122.2298|display=title}} {{Huts}}
Category:Mount Shasta Category:Sierra Club Category:Mountain huts in the United States Category:Buildings and structures in Siskiyou County, California Category:Campgrounds in California Category:Tourist attractions in Siskiyou County, California Category:Rustic architecture in California Category:1923 establishments in California