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The Sacatar Trail Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located 20 miles 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 in size and protects portions of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
The Sacatar Trail was the only route into the Owens Valley from the West before the road over Walker Pass was built. Cattle, soldiers, and commercial traffic used this trail.[1] It is the only designated hiking trial within the wilderness and is about nine miles in length.
Elevations in the wilderness are from 3,541 feet to 8,800 feet.
Recreation activities are day-hiking, backpacking and pinyon nut gathering. The Leave No Trace principles of wilderness travel are advised to minimize impact on the environment.
A California Campfire permit is required for open fires or backpack stoves.
[edit] Landscape
The Sacatar Trail Wilderness encompasses a narrow band along the southern Sierra crest between Ninemile Canyon in the south and Sequoia National Forest to the north. Its boundary includes the desert-like eastern face of the Sierra where broad alluvial fans or bahadas collect from Rose Valley. Height from Rose Valley up to the granite crest is as much as a mile. Five steep canyons cut through the east side with several perennial springs. At the springs, riparian growth includes Fremont cottonwood trees, willows and grasses. The higher elevations have single-leaf pinyon pine and Jeffrey Pine trees.
[edit] Access
The trail crosses the wilderness from east to west, with the east side a steep and strenous climb. Starting at the west trailhead and traveling east is recommended.
The eastside trailhead is difficult to find because of minimal signage. A topographic map (Little Lake quad) or the BLM map of the area is helpful.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
Adkinson, Ron Wild Nothern California, including the entire Sierra Nevada, Globe Piquot Press, 2001
[edit] External links
Bureau of Land Managemnt's page on Sacatar Trail Wilderness
The Bureau of Land Management's Leave No Trace training page
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