Mount Shasta (Waka-nunee-Tuki-Wuki and Uhataahkoo)
Anyone who has ever watched the delicate veils of water cascade down a 129-foot-tall moss-cloaked cliff face, then create rainbows over the cerulean pool at the base of McArthur-Burney Falls, would agree that this is a magical place. This transcendentally beautiful spot is the centerpiece of McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park near the small town of Burney and about 64 miles northeast of Redding.
The Ilmawi, the first people to see the waterfall, considered it sacred, as do their modern-day descendants in the Pit River Tribe. According to a state parks document, “The falls were a source of good luck and power if one led a spiritually clean life,” and are still a site for pilgrimages and coming-of-age ceremonies.
