List of National Natural Landmarks in California

From List of National Natural Landmarks, these are the National Natural Landmarks in California. There are 35 in total.[1]

Name Image Date Location County Description
Amboy Crater 01973-05 May 1973 Amboy San Bernardino A 6,000-year-old volcanic cinder cone, made up of pahoehoe. Its location just off historic U.S. Highway 66 has given many visitors the opportunity to climb a volcano.
Anza-Borrego Desert 01974 1974 Imperial, Riverside, San Diego The largest desert state park in the nation.
Audubon Canyon 01968 1968 Marin The largest known nesting area for great blue herons and American egrets on the Pacific Coast.
Año Nuevo State Reserve 01980 1980 San Mateo The only mainland breeding ground for the northern elephant seal in the world.
American River and Phoenix Park Vernal Pools 01976 1976 Sacramento Contains outstanding examples of vernal pools, and blue oak woodlands
Black Chasm Cave 01976 1976 Amador A small three-level cave containing an outstanding variety of speleothems and some of the best helictite formations in the West.
Burney Falls 01984 1984 Shasta Contains some of the best examples in the western United States of a river drainage regulated by stratigraphically-controlled springs, and of a waterfall formed by undercutting of horizontal rock layers.
Cinder Cone Natural Area 01973 1973 Lassen Volcanic National Park A complex of over 20 large cinder cones of recent origin with extensive and continuous lava flows.
Cosumnes River Preserve 01976 1976 Sacramento A small remnant of a rapidly disappearing riparian woodland community type that once formed a major part of the central California valley.
Deep Springs Marsh 01975 1975 Inyo An example of increasingly rare desert marsh.
Dixon Vernal Pools 01987 1987 Solano The best example of valley needlegrass grassland in the Great Central valley.
Elder Creek 01964 1964 Mendocino A largely undisturbed watershed containing large old stands of douglas fir, broadleaf evergreens, and deciduous trees.
Emerald Bay 01968 1968 El Dorado An outstanding example of glacial geology.
Eureka Dunes 01983 1983 Inyo The tallest dune complex in the Great Basin.
Fish Slough 01975 1975 Inyo, Mono A large, essentially undisturbed desert wetland that provides habitat for the endangered Owens pupfish.
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes 01974 1974 San Luis Obispo The largest relatively undeveloped coastal dune tract in California. Includes off-highway vehicle dune recreation, a National Wildlife Refuge, beaches, and nesting for the Western Snowy Plover.
Imperial Sand Hills 01966 1966 Imperial One of the largest dune patches in the United States.
Irvine Ranch 02006 2006 Orange A remarkably complete stratigraphic succession ranging in age from late Cretaceous to the present.
Miramar Mounds 01972 1972 San Diego Contains unique soil features called mima mounds, which are found in only three or four locations in the country.
Mitchell Caverns and its "Winding Stair" cave 01975 1975 San Bernardino The most important solution caverns known in the Mohave Desert.
Mt. Diablo State Park 01982 1982 Contra Costa Geologic strata of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary age can be seen in an aggregate thickness of 42,000 feet (13,000 m).
Mount Shasta 01976 1976 Siskiyou One of the world's largest and most impressive stratovolcanoes.
Pixley Vernal Pools 01987 1987 Tulare One of the few remaining natural vernal pools containing rare endemic plant species.
Point Lobos 01967 1967 Monterey An outstanding example of terrestrial and marine environments in close association.
Pygmy Forest at Van Damme State Park 01969 1969 Mendocino A unique forest of low, stunted trees and shrubs.
Rainbow Basin 01966 1966 San Bernardino Deep erosion canyons with rugged rims.
Rancho La Brea 01964 1964 Los Angeles Site of the world-famous natural asphalt tar pits.
San Andreas Fault 01965 1965 San Benito One of the best illustrations of earth displacement caused by small crustal movements.
San Felipe Creek 01974 1974 Imperial Probably the last remaining perennial natural desert stream in the Colorado Desert region.
Sand Ridge Wildflower Preserve 01984 1984 Kern A remnant natural area displaying a great diversity of floral species.
Sharktooth Hill 01976 1976 Kern One of the most abundant, diverse and well- preserved fossil marine vertebrate sites in the world.
Tijuana River Estuary 01973 1973 San Diego One of the finest remaining saltwater marshes on the California coastline.
Torrey Pines State Reserve 01977 1977 San Diego Contains a unique and undisturbed biological community supporting endangered bird species.
Trona Pinnacles 01967 1967 San Bernardino A relict landform from the Pleistocene containing unique formations of calcium carbonate.
Turtle Mountain 01973 1973 San Bernardino Contains two mountain sections of entirely different composition.

References

  1. ^ "National Registry of Natural Landmarks". National Park Service. June 2009. http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/pdf/RevisedRegistryJune2009.pdf.