Old Woman Mountains Wilderness | |
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![]() Aerial view of the Old Woman Mountains Wilderness | |
Map of the state of California | |
Location | Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County, California U.S. |
Nearest city | Needles, California |
Coordinates | 34°27′46″N115°11′38″W / 34.46278°N 115.19389°W |
Area | 163,120 acres (660.1 km2) |
Established | 1994 |
Governing body | Bureau of Land Management |
Old Woman Mountains Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Old Woman Mountains of the eastern Mojave Desert. It is located south of Essex in San Bernardino County, California.
This 163,120-acre (660 km2) [1] wilderness was established in 1994, and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The 1975 discovery of the Old Woman Meteorite is located in the Old Woman Mountains and is the largest meteorite found in California and the second largest in the United States. [2]
The area consists of bajadas (extensive flat aprons of alluvium) and the massive, fault-lifted Old Woman Mountains that extend some 35 miles (56 km) north-south and up to 28 miles (45 km) in an east-west direction. The elevations within the wilderness range from 800 feet (240 m) in the drainage bottoms to over 5,300 feet (1,600 m) at the top of Old Woman Peak. The mountains take their name from a granite monolith resembling the figure of an old woman, known as the Old Woman Statue (5,000 feet high).
The Old Woman Mountains Wilderness falls within a transition zone between the Lower Colorado and Mojave deserts and encompasses many different habitat types. Creosote bush scrub dominates the lower elevations, grading into mixed desert scrub at middle elevations with juniper-pinyon woodland at the higher elevations. The dry washes are characterized by catclaw acacia, cheesebush, desert lavender, little-leaf ratany, and desert almond.
Wildlife is typical for the Mojave Desert; including a permanent population of bighorn sheep, mule deer, bobcat, cougar, coyote, black-tailed jackrabbit, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, quail, chuckar, roadrunners, rattlesnakes, and several species of lizards. Numerous raptor species are likely to be found in the area; including prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, Cooper's hawks, American kestrels, as well as several species of owls. The washes and canyons provide good habitat for several species of songbirds, and the bird densities and diversity is further enhanced by the presence of the known 24 springs and seeps.
The bajadas provide excellent desert tortoise habitat; 49,683 acres (201 km2) of the wilderness area have been identified as critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.
The Dead Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. 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.
The El Paso Mountains Wilderness was created in 1994 and now has a total of 23,780 acres (96.2 km2). All of the wilderness is in the northern Mojave Desert in eastern Kern County, California and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is located south of Ridgecrest, California.
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The Kiavah Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in the Mojave Desert, Scodie Mountains, and southern Sierra Nevada in Kern County, California, United States. California State Route 178 connects the town of Lake Isabella to State Highway 14 in the east, crossing Walker Pass at the north boundary of the wilderness.
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The Whipple Mountains Wilderness is a 76,122-acre (30,805 ha) wilderness administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Most of the Whipple Mountains are within the wilderness area. It is located in the northeastern Colorado Desert near the Colorado River. Lake Havasu and Lake Havasu City are 25 miles (40 km) to the North. Earp, California and Parker, Arizona are 20 miles (32 km) to the South. The Parker Dam is 8 miles (13 km) due east.
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