This fall field trip explores remote and wild Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park in northeastern California. Supervising Ranger Ryan Rzab and Park Interpretive Specialist Marlon Sloan guide viewers through the many cultural and natural history aspects found at this fascinating park. This area is the site of one of the largest systems of underwater springs within the United States. Big Lake, the Tule and Fall rivers, and the sparkling Ja She and Lava creeks all meet here in the Fall River Basin.
The Ahjumawi (Ah-joo-MAH-wee) people, for whom this park is named, are one of the 11 autonomous bands of the federally recognized Pit River Tribe. The Ahjumawi have reminded in this area, calling this land home for thousands of years. English translations of Ahjumawi vary from "river people" to "where the waters come together."
The Ahjumawi people built rock fish traps near the shoreline that channeled fresh spring water needed to attract trout and Sacramento suckerfish. The traps held the fish in a shallow place that allowed them to be caught while spawning in winter. Once the native people caught their self-imposed limit of fish, the traps functioned as protected spawning grounds, ensuring the successful reproduction of the next generation of fish.
Today, descendants of the 11 bands making up the Pit River Tribe still live in an area known as "the hundred-mile square" in parts of Shata, Siskiyou, Modoc, and Lassen counties. They are keeping their cultural traditions alive for future generations.
By the 20th century, much of the former Ahjumawi homeland in the Fall River Valley had been acquired by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to further electrical power development. In 1944, rancher and former lumberman Harry Horr and his wife Ivy purchased 6,000 acres from PG&E. The Horrs used the land for cattle grazing and leased it to hunting and fishing clubs. After Harry's death in the 1960's, Ivy Horr wished to see the land and its resources preserved. In 1975, California State Parks acquired the acreage that is now the park, helped by a generous gift from Mrs. Horr.
Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park is located in the Fall River Valley Basin. About two-thirds of the park's 6,000 acres are blanketed with geologically recent (3,000 - 5,000)years old) lava flows from the Medicine Lake volcano to the north. Basaltic lava features include pit craters, pressure ridges, small lava tubes, and spatter cones. The park is bordered on the north by the Modoc Plateau, built by repeated eruptions and flows of basaltic lava. The plateau contains abundant air bubbles, lava tubes, and spaces that quickly capture, contain, and convey surface water, discharging about 1/2 billion gallons of water a day into springs that feed the valley's lakes and streams.
The park sits near the border of the Modoc and Klamath/North Coast bioregions. Dominant plants include western juniper, bitterbrush, curl leaf, and birch leaf mountain mahogany, buckbrush ceanothus, Oregon while oak, and traditional hybrids between ponderosa and Jeffrey pine.
The abundant spring water also invites great numbers of both residential and migratory bird species. Birds traveling in the Pacific Flyway include Canada and snow geese as well as American white pelicans. Birders can see blue-winged teals, Lewis' woodpeckers, and northern pygmy owls.