Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park

Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, 6,000 acres of volcanic beauty in Shasta County, may be the most obscure of about 270 state parks in California. That's because of its remote location in the Fall River Valley, about 200 miles north of Sacramento and 65 miles northeast of Redding. Visitors cannot drive to the park; they must rent canoes or kayaks in a nearby town or bring their own boat, then cross an inlet. Fewer than 2,000 people make the trip each year.

Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, 6,000 acres of volcanic beauty in Shasta County, may be the most obscure of about 270 state parks in California. That's because of its remote location in the Fall River Valley, about 200 miles north of Sacramento and 65 miles northeast of Redding. Visitors cannot drive to the park; they must rent canoes or kayaks in a nearby town or bring their own boat, then cross an inlet. Fewer than 2,000 people make the trip each year.

While nearly all state and national parks are full of people this time of year, Ahjumawi is empty. "I'm often the only person in the park," said Steve Moore, 39, the ranger at this, the least-visited state park in California and the only one accessible exclusively by water. Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park is embraced by towering mountains, 6,000 acres of pine, oak and juniper forest, plus spectacular lava flows and one of the largest systems of fresh water springs in America.

Trying to plan his summer vacation in the dead of winter, Otto Laszlo of Simi Valley floods the Internet with reservation requests in January as soon as online bookings at California campsites for July become available. Laszlo has been camping at prime beachfront sites such as Leo Carrillo State Park north of Santa Monica since he first came to the United States as a student more than 30 years ago.