Greenhorn Mountains

Last updated
Greenhorn Mountains
Greenhorn Mountains.jpg
The Greenhorn Mountains
Highest point
Elevation 2,523 m (8,278 ft)
Geography
Relief map of California.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Location of Greenhorn Mountains in California [1]
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
District Kern County, Tulare County
Range coordinates 35°50′59.820″N118°34′21.315″W / 35.84995000°N 118.57258750°W / 35.84995000; -118.57258750 Coordinates: 35°50′59.820″N118°34′21.315″W / 35.84995000°N 118.57258750°W / 35.84995000; -118.57258750
Topo map USGS  Tobias Peak

The Greenhorn Mountains are a mountain range of the Southern Sierra Nevada, in California. They are protected within the Sequoia National Forest.

Contents

Geography

The range is located in eastern Kern County and Tulare County. They are east of the San Joaquin Valley, northeast of Bakersfield, and form the west side of the Kern River Valley.

The range reaches an elevation of 8,295 feet (2,528 m) at Sunday Peak, located just south of Portuguese Pass.

The lower Kern Canyon is a dramatic and deep canyon cut by the Kern River through the Greenhorn Mountains to the San Joaquin Valley. State Route 178 follows the canyon up to the Kern River Valley.

During the Gold Strike of 1854 miners crossing the Greenhorn Mountains founded the town of Keyesville. [2]

Ecology

The Greenhorn Mountains contain a variety of native California flora and fauna. One wildflower found here is the Yellow mariposa lily (Calochortus luteus), which is at the extreme southern end of its distribution range. [3] The Marsh checkerbloom (Sidalcea ranunculacea) is endemic to the range and adjacent Sierra Nevada foothills.

The Greenhorn Mountains slender salamander ( Batrachoseps altasierrae) is endemic to the Greenhorn Mountains. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Sierra Nevada Mountain range in the Western United States

The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.

Sequoia National Park National park in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, U.S.

Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890 to protect 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.

Keyesville, California Unincorporated community in California, United States

Keyesville is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Lake Isabella and the Kern River Valley, at an elevation of 2,848 feet (868 m). Keyesville, founded in 1854 is named for Richard M. Keyes, whose discovery of gold in 1853 started the Kern River Gold Rush.

Big Chico Creek

Big Chico Creek is a creek in northeastern California that originates near Colby Mountain in Lassen National Park. It flows 46 miles (74 km) to its confluence with the Sacramento River in Butte County. The creek's elevation declines from 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level at its head to 120 feet (37 m) where it joins the Sacramento River, as shown on the Ord Ferry USGS quadrangle. Big Chico Creek forms part of the demarcation between the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range.

<i>Calochortus luteus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus luteus, the yellow mariposa lily, is a mariposa lily endemic to California.

The Spenceville Wildlife Area is an 11,448-acre (46.33 km2) wildlife preserve managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, within Nevada County and Yuba County of northern California.

<i>Calochortus striatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus striatus, known by the common name alkali mariposa lily, is a species of mariposa lily native to California and into Nevada.

<i>Calochortus clavatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus clavatus is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name clubhair mariposa lily. It is endemic to California where it is found in forests and on chaparral slopes.

Havilah, California Unincorporated community in California, United States

Havilah is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located in the mountains between Walker Basin and the Kern River Valley, 5 miles (8.0 km) south-southwest of Bodfish at an elevation of 3,136 feet (956 m).

South Fork Kern River

The South Fork Kern River is a tributary of the Kern River in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. It is one of the southernmost rivers on the western slope of the mountains, and drains a high, relatively dry plateau country of 982 square miles (2,540 km2) along the Sierra Crest. The upper South Fork flows through a series of rugged canyons, but it also drains a flat, marshy valley before joining the Kern River at Lake Isabella.

South Sierra Wilderness Protected wilderness area in California, United States

The South Sierra Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Southern Sierra Nevada, in eastern California. It is located 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Bakersfield, and is southwest of Owens Lake and Olancha.

<i>Calochortus panamintensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus panamintensis is a rare North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name Panamint mariposa lily. It is native to Inyo and Kern Counties in California, plus adjacent Nye County, Nevada. It is named after the Panamint Range near Death Valley.

<i>Calochortus superbus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus superbus is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name superb mariposa lily. It is endemic to California, a common member of the flora in several types of habitat across much of the state. It is most abundant in the Coast Ranges and in the Foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Table Mountain (Tuolumne County, California) Inverted valley mountain in California, US

Table Mountain is a mountainous landscape feature in Tuolumne County, California near the town of Jamestown. Table Mountain is an inverted valley, an elevated landform which follows the former contours of a river valley above level of the surrounding topography, rather than below it. It was created by lava flows which filled an ancient river bed. The resulting igneous rock resisted erosion better than the materials around it, leaving behind a sinuous rock formation elevated above the surrounding landscape.

Lime Kiln Creek is a stream within Tulare County in central California. An alternative name for this creek is Dry Creek.

Panoche Pass

Panoche Pass is a mountain pass within the Diablo Range in San Benito County, California connecting the southern extremity of the Santa Clara Valley in the west to the Panoche Valley and San Joaquin Valley in the east. The name Panoche Pass is used for the United States Geological Survey quadrangle map for the local area. County Route J1, also known as the Panoche Road, traverses the pass.

Kern River Valley

The Kern River Valley is a valley and region of the Southern Sierra Nevada, in Kern County, California.

Poso Creek

Poso Creek or Posey Creek is an 87.9-mile (141.5 km) intermittent stream in Kern County, California.

References

  1. "Greenhorn Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. Mildred Brooke Hoover and Douglas E. Kyle. 2002
  3. C. Michael Hogan. 2009
  4. https://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/wake/379_Jockusch%20et%20al%202012%20Zootaxa.pdf