Sylvania Mountains Wilderness
The Sylvania Mountains Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located 30 miles (48 km) east of Bishop in the state of California. The wilderness is 18,677acres in size and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).[3] The California Desert Protection Act of 1994[4] created the Sylvania Mountains Wilderness and was added to the National Wilderness Preservation System. The wilderness is bordered by Nevada stateline on the east, Piper Mountain Wilderness on the west and Death Valley National Park to the south.
Geography
The Sylvania Mountains are a subrange of the Last Chance Mountains and straddle the California-Nevada border. There is no distinct crest, only rounded summits and ridges with many canyons, drainages and bahadas (fans of alluvial soil that have combined at the base of canyons). Elevations range from 4,640 to 7,970 feet (1,410 to 2,430 m).
Flora and fauna
There are limited water sources, but the springs that do exist support mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, chukar, coyote, as well as ground squirrels and lizards.
The wilderness flora is a mixture of Mojave Desert and Great Basin plant life. Joshua trees are numerous, as well as desert tea, hop sage, cheesebush, deerhorn cholla and in the highest elevations, single-leaf pinyon, big sagebrush and Utah juniper. Rare plants in the area include fernleaf fleabane (Erigeron compactus), a native perennial wildflower, and Mormon needlegrass (Achnatherum aridum), a native perennial that grows in Joshua Tree and Pinyon-juniper woodland communities.
Recreation
The hiking trails are closed four-wheel-drive roads and rise gradually from the bahada to pinyon woodlands in the higher elevations. The most rugged area is the White Cliff Canyon in the eastern portion with cliffs rising 800 feet (240 m) above the canyon floor. The wilderness is very seldom visited due to a lack of water and extreme temperatures in the summer months. Wildflower season is from March through May.
Relics of mining activity are still present both within the wilderness and along the mountain range into Nevada.
See also
References
- Adkison, Ron (2001). Wild Northern California. The Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-1-56044-781-8.
External links
|
|
|
|
|
National Parks |
|
|
National Preserves |
|
|
National Monuments |
|
|
National Seashores |
|
|
National Historical Parks |
|
|
National Historic Sites |
|
|
National Memorials |
|
|
National Recreation Areas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
State Parks |
|
|
State Reserves |
|
|
State Marine Reserves |
|
|
State Historic Parks |
|
|
State Beaches |
|
|
State Recreation Areas |
|
|
State Vehicular Recreation Areas |
Carnegie · Clay Pit · Heber Dunes · Hollister Hills · Hungry Valley · Oceano Dunes · Ocotillo Wells · Prairie City
|
|
Other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Forests |
|
|
National Wilderness
Preservation System |
|
|
Other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wildlife Areas |
Antelope Valley · Ash Creek · Bass Hill · Battle Creek · Big Lagoon · Big Sandy · Biscar · Butte Valley · Buttermilk Country · Cache Creek · Camp Cady · Cantara/Ney Springs · Cedar Roughs · Cinder Flats · Collins Eddy · Colusa Bypass · Coon Hollow · Cottonwood Creek · Crescent City Marsh · Crocker Meadows · Daugherty Hill · Decker Island · Doyle · Dutch Flat · Eastlker River · Eel River · Elk Creek Wetlands · Elk River · Fay Slough · Feather River · Fitzhugh Creek · Fremont Weir · Grass Lake · Gray Lodge · Green Creek · Grizzly Island · Hallelujah Junction · Heenan Lake · Hill Slough · Hollenbeck Canyon · Honey Lake · Hope Valley · Horseshoe Ranch · Imperial · Indian Valley · Kelso Peak and Old Dad Mountains · Kinsman Flat · Knoxville · Laguna · Lake Berryessa · Lake Earl · Lake Sonoma · Little Panoche Reservoir · Los Banos · Lower Sherman Island · Mad River Slough · Marble Mountains · Mendota · Merrill's Landing · Miner Slough · Monache Meadows · Morro Bay · Moss Landing · Mouth of Cottonwood Creek · Napa-Sonoma Marshes · North Grasslands · O'Neill Forebay · Oroville · Petaluma Marsh · Pickel Meadow · Pine Creek · Point Edith · Putah Creek · Rector Reservoir · Red Lake · Rhode Island · Sacramento River · San Felipe Valley · San Jacinto · San Luis Obispo · San Luis Reservoir · San Pablo Bay · Santa Rosa · Shasta Valley · Silver Creek · Slinkard/Little Antelope · Smithneck Creek · South Fork · Spenceville · Surprise Valley · Sutter Bypass · Tehama · Truckee River · Upper Butte Basin · Volta · Warner Valley · Waukell Creek · West Hilmar · Westlker River · White Slough · Willow Creek · Yolo Bypass
|
|
Ecological Reserves |
Albany Mudflats · Alkali Sink · Allensworth · Atascadero Creek Marsh · Bair Island · Baldwin Lake · Batiquitos Lagoon · Blue Sky · Boden Canyon · Boggs Lake · Bolsa Chica · Bonny Doon · Buena Vista Lagoon · Butler Slough · Butte Creek Canyon · Butte Creek House · Buttonwillow · By Day Creek · Calhoun Cut · Canebrake · Carlsbad Highlands · Carmel Bay · Carrizo Canyon · Carrizo Plains · China Point · Clover Creek · Coachella Valley · Coal Canyon · Corte Madera Marsh · Crestridge · Dairy Mart Ponds · Dales Lake · Del Mar Landing · Eden Landing · Elkhorn Slough · Estelle Mountain · Fall River Mills · Fish Slough · Fremont Valley · Goleta Slough · Indian Joe Spring · Kaweah · Kerman · King Clone · Laguna Laurel · Loch Lomond Vernal Pool · Lokern · Magnesia Spring · Marin Islands · Mattole River · McGinty Mountain · Morro Dunes · Morro Rock · Napa River · North Table Mountain · Oasis Spring · Panoche Hills · Peytonia Slough · Pine Hill · Piute Creek · Pleasant Valley · Point Lobos · Rancho Jamul · Redwood Shores · River Springs Lakes · Saline Valley · San Dieguito Lagoon · San Elijo Lagoon · San Felipe Creek · San Joaquin River · Santa Rosa Plateau · Springville · Stone Corral · Sycamore Canyon · Sycuan Peak · Thomes Creek · Tomales Bay · Upper Newport Bay · Watsonville Slough · West Mojave Desert · Woodbridge · Yaudanchi
|
|
Marine Protected Areas |
Abalone Cove · Agua Hedionda Lagoon · Albany Mudflats · Anacapa · Anacapa · Año Nuevo · Asilomar · Atascadero Beach · Bair Island · Batiquitos Lagoon · Big Creek · Big Creek · Big Sycamore Canyon · Bodega · Bolsa Chica · Buena Vista Lagoon · Cambria · Cardiff and San Elijo · Carmel Bay · Carmel Pinnacles · Carrington Point · Catalina Marine Science Center · Corte Madera Marsh · Crystal Cove · Dana Point · Del Mar Landing · Doheny · Doheny · Duxbury Reef · Edward F. Ricketts · Elkhorn Slough · Elkhorn Slough · Encinitas · Estero de Limantour · Fagan Marsh · Farallon Islands · Farnsworth Bank · Fort Ross · Gerstle Cove · Goleta Slough · Greyhound Rock · Gull Island · Harris Point · Heisler Park · Hopkins · Irvine Coast · James V. Fitzgerald · Judith Rock · Julia Pfeiffer Burns · La Jolla · Laguna Beach · Lovers Cove (Catalina Island) · Lovers Point · MacKerricher · Manchester and Arena Rock · Marin Islands · Mia J. Tegner · Moro Cojo Slough · Morro Bay · Morro Bay · Morro Beach · Natural Bridges · Niguel · Pacific Grove Marine Gardens · Painted Cave · Peytonia Slough · Piedras Blancas · Piedras Blancas · Pismo · Pismo-Oceano Beach · Point Buchon · Point Buchon · Point Cabrillo · Point Fermin · Point Lobos · Point Reyes Headlands · Point Sur · Point Sur · Portuguese Ledge · Punta Gorda · Redwood Shores · Refugio · Richardson Rock · Robert E. Badham · Robert W. Crown · Russian Gulch · Russian River · Salt Point · San Diego-Scripps · San Dieguito Lagoon · San Elijo Lagoon · Santa Barbara Island · Scorpion · Skunk Point · Sonoma Coast · Soquel Canyon · South Laguna Beach · South Point · Tomales Bay · Upper Newport Bay · Van Damme · Vandenberg · White Rock (Cambria)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Monuments |
|
|
National Conservation Areas |
|
|
Wilderness Areas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Año Nuevo Island · Bodega Marine · Box Springs · Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center · Burns Piñon Ridge · Carpinteria Salt Marsh · Chickering American River · Coal Oil Point · Dawson Los Monos Canyon · Eagle Lake Field Station · Elliott Chaparral · Emerson Oaks · Fort Ord · Hastings · James San Jacinto Mountains · Jenny Pygmy Forest · Jepson Prairie · Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh · Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino · Landels-Hill Big Creek · McLaughlin · Motte Rimrock · Quail Ridge · Sagehen Creek Field Station · San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh · Santa Cruz Island · Scripps Coastal · Sedgwick · Stebbins Cold Canyon · Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego · Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains · Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center · Valentine Eastern Sierra · Younger Lagoon
|
|
|
|
|