Dead Mountains

Last updated
Dead Mountains
Dead Mountains 3.jpg
Seen from Needles Highway-(I-40)
Highest point
PeakMount Manchester
Elevation 1,097 m (3,599 ft)
Dimensions
Length11 mi (18 km)N-S
Width5 mi (8.0 km)E-W-(widest at north)
Geography
Relief map of California.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Location of the Dead Mountains in California [1]
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Region(southeast)-Mojave Desert
(Lower Colorado River Valley)
District San Bernardino County
Settlement Needles, CAMohave Valley, AZ
Range coordinates 35°01′40″N114°44′56″W / 35.02778°N 114.74889°W / 35.02778; -114.74889 Coordinates: 35°01′40″N114°44′56″W / 35.02778°N 114.74889°W / 35.02778; -114.74889
Borders on Newberry Mountains (Nevada)-N
Piute Valley & Wash-W & S
Colorado River-E
Interstate 40 in California-S
Topo map USGS  Mount Manchester

The Dead Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. [1] The range borders the tri-state intersection of Nevada, Arizona and California, and the Mohave Valley, with the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation bordering the range foothills on the east and northeast, in the three states.

Contents

Geography

The Dead Mountains are 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Needles, California. They border the Colorado River on the east, and the Piute Wash of the Piute Valley on the west. Piute wash drains south, then turns east for 8 mi at the south of the range to meet the Colorado River.

Mount Manchester is the highest point at 3,598 feet (1,097 m). [2]

Dead Mountains Wilderness

The rust colored mountains, which cover 46,758 acres, were designated the Dead Mountains Wilderness in 1994 by the United States Congress as part of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994. [3] They are maintained by the Bureau of Land Management. [4] The vegetation is mostly creosote bush and desert wash scrub. The California Desert Conservation Area [5] is located within the wilderness and smoke trees are found there.

The wildlife found on the mountains includes coyote, a small herd of bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes, falcons, hawks, eagles. A portion of the wilderness is critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. [6] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Mohave Valley

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Chemehuevi Mountains

The Chemehuevi Mountains are found at the southeast border of San Bernardino County in southeastern California adjacent the Colorado River. Located south of Needles, California and northwest of the Whipple Mountains, the mountains lie in a north-south direction in general, and are approximately 15 miles in length.

Piute Mountains

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Whipple Mountains

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Mount Manchester

Mount Manchester is the highest peak in the Dead Mountains of extreme northeastern San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert.

Piute Valley

The Piute Valley is a 45-mile-long (72 km) north–south valley southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Needles. The north of the valley is at Searchlight, with some of the valley extending northwest from Searchlight. At the center-north lies Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada.

Clipper Mountain Wilderness Wilderness area in California, United States

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References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dead Mountains
  2. "USA.gov. California Desert District". Archived from the original on 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  3. "S.21 - 103rd Congress (1993-1994): California Desert Protection Act of 1994". The Library of Congress. 31 October 1994. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  4. "Dead Mountains Wilderness". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  5. Bureau of Land Management Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Dead Mountains wilderness fauna". Archived from the original on 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  7. Synopsis of conservation information on the desert tortoise