The Inner Coast Ranges are an extensive mountain range within California in the USA. In Northern California the ranges can be characterized as a mountainous landform from near Anderson, California south along the east slope of the North Coast Ranges, around the south end of the High North Coast Ranges to west of the Russian River (California). The term inner is a reference to the greater distance of the ranges from the Pacific Ocean, compared to the outer ranges that are nearer to that ocean.
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Willis Linn Jepson was one of the first to describe the flora of the Inner North Coast Ranges. Jepson notes the presence of Yellow Pine and Sugar Pine species.[1] Ecosystems within the Inner Coast Ranges include California oak woodland, chaparral, oak savanna and grassland. Dominant oak trees include Quercus agrifolia and Quercus douglasii. In the southern elements of the Inner Coast Ranges the hybrid oak Quercus alvordiana occurs from Carmel Valley to the Tehachapi Mountains.[2]