Visitors come to fish trout in the Sacramento and McCloud Rivers, or to see and climb Mount Shasta, Castle Crags or the Trinity Alps.

Dunsmuir is located on the Upper Sacramento River, a blue ribbon trout stream that attracts fishermen from all over the world.

Dunsmuir is officially a Union Pacific "Train Town" and enjoys many financial benefits because of its relationship with the railroad.

In the mid-1830s, pioneer horse and cattle drives came up the Sacramento Canyon, delivering livestock from Mexican California to the new settlements in the Oregon Country to the north.

The discovery of gold at Yreka, California dramatically increased movement through the site of Dunsmuir, and a toll bridge and stagecoach hotel were built at Upper Soda Springs.

In 1887, the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad along the line of the Siskiyou Trail led to the creation of the modern town of Dunsmuir.

South of the present downtown and north of Castella is an area known as Nutglade, which was previously known as Dunsmuir and before that, Cedar Flat.

During the railroad heyday, Dunsmuir was the largest town in this County which is the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

By the mid-1950s, the railroad transitioned from steam to diesel locomotives, and the substantial workforce in Dunsmuir was not needed, resulting in the town's contraction.

As a result, Dunsmuir retains today much of the charm and scale of the 1920s and 1930s, and has been designated on the National Register of Historic Places.

On the night of July 14, 1991, a Southern Pacific train derailed into the upper Sacramento River at a horseshoe curve of track known as the Cantara Loop, upstream from Dunsmuir.

On the morning of July 15, it became apparent that the tank car had ruptured and spilled its entire contents into the river – approximately 19,000 gallons of the soil fumigant metam sodium.

Millions of aquatic invertebrates, including insects and mollusks, which form the basis of the river's ecosystem, were destroyed.

The chemical plume left a 41-mile wake of destruction, from the spill site to the entry point of the river into Shasta Lake.

Recent changes to angling regulations have opened the Upper Sacramento River to catch-and-release fishing all year round.

In 1924, New York Yankees Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel visited the park as part of a barnstorming tour, playing an exhibition baseball game against Dunsmuir locals.

[9] Tauhindauli Park and Trail is on the former site of Upper Soda Springs resort along the Sacramento River canyon.

Long a local fishing spot, swimming hole, and site of both historical[citation needed] and ecological significance,[to whom?]

The Tauhindauli river restoration project created a park with pathways winding through native grasses and plants, with fishing access and picnic areas.

Levees have been moved and built up for maximum protection for the park from river erosion and to restore the watershed to the natural habitat which provides food for animals.

In large part because of its location on the Siskiyou Trail, the site mirrors the history of the state and of the American West.

Mossbrae Falls is a waterfall flowing into the Upper Sacramento River, in the Shasta Cascade area in Dunsmuir, California.

Charles E. Bolton, better known as Black Bart, robbed the Roseburg, Oregon to Redding, California stage near Dunsmuir on October 25, 1879.

Its temperatures are similar to those of the nearby cities of Yreka and Medford (about 90 miles or 140 km north in the state of Oregon) but Dunsmuir receives three-and-a-half times as much precipitation.

[18] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2), 97.86% of it land and 2.14% of it water.

In plain view from some of the city's public streets, this may be one of the few places in western North America where three categories of "twos" (population, elevation, and whitewater difficulty) are met or eclipsed.

Two of the fountains previously ran 24 hours a day, however have since been changed in 2015 to only flow on demand due to water conservation measures placed on the state of California by Governor Jerry Brown.

Dunsmuir has a City Manager form of government with an elected five-person Council, a Chamber of Commerce, a mayor, and two school districts.

This is the only stop in Siskiyou County, and the northernmost Amtrak station in California, located at a midpoint between Redding and Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The station is maintained by city residents and local rail enthusiasts, and includes a museum,[27] telephones, restrooms and shelter from the weather.