Even as a local this is a fun thing to do: take the kids, the family, whoever is visiting and a handful of quarters. You can get fish food out of a gumball machine with those quarters and then throw it into the pools of young trout. They jump out the of water, dimpling the surface of the long ponds. It’s fabulous fun, both for little kids and grown up kids. Spend some time deciding whether you prefer to huck it all in at once, or drop single bits of food pellets to watch the shiny fish try to get there first.
You can get tours of the fish hatchery as well, by going into the Sisson Museum (www.mountshastasissonmuseum.org).