Castle Lake, CA.
This one was such a surprise to us!
We never expected Castle Lake to be such a beautiful place when we decided to quickly visit it during our Mount Shasta adventure this past 4th of July.
When we first arrived, we couldn't believe what we were seeing. It looked like we had just gotten into Disney's Bother Bear. We were surrounded by dragonflies, the temperature was perfect, the day was beautiful and we certainly regretted being so hungry and unprepared that we just were there for a few minutes.
If you ever get the chance to visit North California, write Castle Lake in your list. You'll fall deeply in love with it.