The cute Dream Inn (326 Chestnut St., 530/926-1536, www.dreaminnmtshastacity.com, $88–176) offers bed-and-breakfast accommodations right at the base of the magnificent mountain. The four small, inexpensive upstairs rooms have unique furnishings and shared hallway bathrooms. Downstairs, a bigger white antique bedroom has its own private bath and a view of Mount Eddy out of the lace-curtained window.

Right next door, two large suites share space in a Spanish-adobe-style home; each has its own living space, bathroom, and truly homelike, cluttered decor. Rooms at the Dream Inn include a scrumptious full breakfast each morning.

The ultimate in clean, comfortable, and cheap lodgings at Shasta is the Mount Shasta Ranch Bed and Breakfast (1008 W. A. Barr Rd., 877/926-3870, www.stayinshasta.com, $66–130). The budget-friendly rooms in the Carriage House offer small spaces, queen beds, and shared bathrooms. The separate Cottage is the largest room in the house, with two bedrooms that can comfortably sleep up to six people.

The four rooms in the Ranch House proper are spacious and comfortably furnished with a clutter of country-Victorian antiques and tchotckes, and each has its own big private bathroom. All rooms include a full country breakfast served just before 9 a.m. to get you up, moving, and fueled for a long day out in the Shasta wilderness.