Granite Mountains | |
---|---|
location of Granite Mountains in Riverside County, California [1] | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 1,326 m (4,350 ft) |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
District | Riverside County |
Range coordinates | 33°58′13″N115°04′22″W / 33.97028°N 115.07278°W |
Topo map | USGS Palen Pass |
The Granite Mountains are a mountain range in northern Riverside County, California, United States. The range is east of Joshua Tree National Park, and is one of four mountain ranges in the Mojave Desert to share this name. The range is about 12 miles northwest to southeast, and about 4 miles wide. It is in the Palen/McCoy Wilderness, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [2]
The range is in the southeast part of the Granite Pass USGS topographic quadrangle map, in the southwest part of East of Granite Pass, the northeast corner of West of Palen Pass, and the northern part of Palen Pass. The range is east of the Coxcomb Mountains in Joshua Tree Wilderness, south of Iron Mountain, West of the Arica Mountains and the Little Maria Mountains, and north of the Palen Mountains. The high point is 4351 feet above sea level, at 33.9701741N, -115.0728024W. [3]
The mountains are entirely composed of Mesozoic granitic rocks. [4]
Little has been published on the flora and fauna of these mountains. A hiker's blog mentions Parkinsonia (palo verde) and Yucca. [5] The Calflora database lists Brassica tournefortii (Saharan mustard), Crossidium squamiferum, Fouquieria splendens (ocotillo), Grimmia orbicularis, Juniperus californica (California juniper), and Stillingia spinulosa (broad leaved stillingia). [6] One document notes that these mountains are part of the range for desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni). [7]
The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial and Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) in a northwest to southeast direction, and are located east of the Salton Sea and south and west of the Chuckwalla Mountains and the Colorado River. To the northwest lie the Orocopia Mountains.
The Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California.
The Chemehuevi Mountains are a mountain range that are found at the southeast border of San Bernardino County in southeastern California and are adjacent the Colorado River. Located south of Needles, California and northwest of the Whipple Mountains, the mountains are oriented in a north–south direction, and stretch for approximately 15 miles (24 km) in length.
The Clipper Mountains are located in the eastern Mojave Desert and protected within Mojave Trails National Monument, in San Bernardino County, California.
The Palen Mountains are located in the southern Mojave Desert – northern Colorado Desert in eastern Riverside County, California, US. The range lies southeast of the Coxcomb Mountains, and northeast of the Chuckwalla Mountains near Interstate 10. The mountains lie in a southwest-northeasterly direction and are approximately 15 miles long and nine miles wide at their widest point.
The Orocopia Mountains are located in Riverside County in southern California, United States, east of the Coachella Valley, west of the Chuckwalla Mountains, and south of Interstate 10 in the Colorado Desert. The range lies in an east-west direction, and is approximately 18 miles long. The Orocopia Mountains are north of and overlooking the Salton Sea and south of Joshua Tree National Park, with the Chocolate Mountains to the southeast and the scenic Mecca Hills just northwest.
The Whipple Mountains are located in eastern San Bernardino County, California. They are directly west of the Colorado River, Parker Dam, and Lake Havasu; south of Needles, California; north of Parker, Arizona and Vidal, California; and northeast of Vidal Junction, California.
The Little Maria Mountains are located in southeastern California in the United States. The range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction east of the Palen Mountains and west of the Big Maria Mountains. The mountain range is approximately 15 miles long and is located about 12.6 miles north of Interstate 10, and 12 miles southwest of the abandoned Rice Army Airfield near State Route 62. The Victor Mine is found at the southeastern end of the range near Midland.
The McCoy Mountains are located in southeastern California in the United States. The southeast terminus of the range lies adjacent the western edge of the Parker Valley in a southern stretch of the Lower Colorado River Valley corridor.
Clipper Valley is a vast, oval-shaped alluvial plain located in the eastern Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California, in the south of the Mojave National Preserve. Interstate 40 passes the valley along its southern border, and Needles, California and the Colorado River are to the east.
The Sacatar Trail Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Ridgecrest, California USA. It was created in 1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act - Public Law 103-433 - and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The wilderness is 51,900 acres (210 km2) in size and protects portions of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
Salt Creek is a 26-mile-long (42 km) intermittent stream in Riverside County, California, flowing into the north shore of the Salton Sea. Its discharge point is located north of Salt Creek Beach in the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. It is an important habitat of desert pupfish, containing a population of 159 fish. Salt creek is also a birding spot for birds that winter in the Salton Sea.
The Arica Mountains are a small mountain range in northern Riverside County, California. The range lies along the south edge of Rice Valley 6.2 miles (10.0 km) southwest of the old Rice townsite on California State Route 62. They lie 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the Little Maria Mountains and 9 miles (14 km) southwest of the Turtle Mountains. The Granite Mountains lie about 8 miles to the west. They are in the Colorado Desert, in the Lower Colorado River Valley region. They are north the Palen Mountains and Big Maria Mountains; and northwest of Blythe, California.
The Desert Training Center (DTC), also known as California–Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), was a World War II training facility established in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, largely in Southern California and Western Arizona in 1942.
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.
Dos Palmas Spring is an artesian spring in Riverside County, California where it lies at the foot of the Orocopia Mountains. It is only one of several such springs in the area that create an oasis in the Colorado Desert there.
The Rice Valley is a valley of the southeastern Mojave Desert, located within Riverside County, California.
The Camp Granite was a sub camp of the US Army Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young were General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Granite was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.985.2). The site of the Camp Granite is 45 miles East of Indio, California off Interstate 10 and California State Route 62 near the Granite Mountains.
The Camp Coxcomb was a sub camp of the US Army Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Coxcomb was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.985). The site of the Camp Granite is 45 miles East of Indio, California off Interstate 10 and California State Route 177 near the Coxcomb Mountains. The train stop at Freda railroad siding delivered Troops and equipment. The camp closed in early in 1944 after about two years of operations.
The Granite Mountains are a mountain range in San Bernardino County, California, United States. They are east of Victorville and Apple Valley, west of Lucerne Valley, and are one of four mountain ranges in the Mojave Desert to share this name. The range is about 8 miles east to west, and 8.4 miles north to south.