Less than two hours northeast of Redding, CA, the arid landscape morphs drastically into an enormous plateau surrounded by corrugated mountains interspersed with wetland clearings. Vast swaths of uncut timber stretch up the flanks of volcanoes that make up the southern reaches of the Cascades. This region between Mount Shasta (to the north) and Mount Lassen makes up the Medicine Lake Highlands, or Sáttítla, as it has always been known to the Ahjumawi people. For decades, the Ahjumawi, federally recognized as one of 11 autonomous bands that make up the Pit River Tribe, have tirelessly fought development and resource extraction in this lush, water-rich landscape, seeking permanent protection for their ancestral homelands. The tribe, along with Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and other partners, have been working with local and state representatives to create the Sáttítla National Monument.

The Sáttítla region encompasses over 200,000 acres of remote and virtually untouched wilderness comprised of multiple national forests and other public lands. It is also the aquatic heart of Northern California, a single source of groundwater that is fed by the pulmonary vascular system of underground lava tubes left over by the eruption of North America’s largest shield volcano. Porous volcanic rock covers an area of roughly 850 square miles. This rock acts like a sponge, absorbing rainfall and snowmelt where it is funneled deep underground and stored in an aquifer estimated to hold 20-40 million acre-feet of water, equivalent to California’s 200 largest reservoirs combined. When it eventually reaches the surface, the water percolates from seeps and flows that converge into the most consistent and productive trout water found in California.

A double haul’s distance from the small communities of Burney and Fall River Mills is a collection of California’s most fabled trout rivers. Two legendary spring creeks, Fall River and Hat Creek, eventually conjoin to form the Pit River before flowing into Shasta Lake. To the north, the renowned McCloud River tumbles through a steep canyon before also merging with the turquoise water of Shasta. These rivers have formed cult-like followings among fly anglers which have existed for generations. If blanket hatches and technical trout fishing are your religion, then these waters speak to you like the word of God.

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