SOIL SURVEY OF THE REDDING AREA, CALIFORNIA. 



By MACY H. LAPHAM and L. C. HOLMES. 

 DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 



The Reddino^ area covers about 200 square miles, embracin_fr tlie 

 principal agricultural district of Shasta County, Cal. It is irregular 

 in outline and extends north from Cottonwood Creek, which here 

 forms the southern boundary of Shasta County, a distance of some 

 20 miles. From east 

 to west its greatest 

 breadth is slightly less 

 than 16 miles. 



It occupies the up- 

 per or northern part of 

 the great depression 

 known as the Sacra- 

 mento Valley. This 

 depression, constitut- 

 ing the most impor- 

 tant agricultural re- 

 gion of the northern 

 half of the State, is 

 about 4,000 square 

 miles in extent. It is 

 inclosed by the Sierra 

 Nevada and the Lassen 

 Peak Ridge of the Cas- 

 cade Moimtains upon 

 the east, the Coast 

 Range upon the west, 

 and the Klamath Moun- 

 tains, formed by the 

 coalescing of these 

 ranges, upon the north. 



The extreme northern part of this depression is cut off from the 

 main valley of the Sacramento River by a low, wooded ridge extending 

 outward from the foothills upon each side of the valle}', through 

 which a short distance north of the town of Red BluflP the Sacramento 

 passes by a narrow gorge known as Iron Can^'on. The valley proper 



Fig. 1.— Sketch map showing location of the Kedding area, 

 California. 



