Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains | |
---|---|
Mountains of California | |
Dimensions | |
Length | 249 km (155 mi)[1] |
Width | 181 km (112 mi)[1] |
Area | 25,595 km2 (9,882 sq mi)[1] |
Geography | |
Map of the Klamath Mountains Geologic Province, Pacific Coast Ranges
| |
Country | United States |
States | Oregon and California |
Range coordinates | 41°19′12″N 122°28′44″W / 41.32°N 122.479°W |
Parent range | Pacific Coast Ranges |
The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly-populated mountain range in northwestern
Geography
Physiographically, the Klamath Mountains include the Siskiyou Mountains, the Marble Mountains, the Scott Mountains, the Trinity Mountains, the Trinity Alps, the Salmon Mountains, and the northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains.[5] They are a section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the Pacific Mountain System (Pacific Coast Ranges) physiographic division.[6] Klamath Mountains is the name given to one of California's eleven geomorphic provinces.[7]
Ten highest peaks
These are the ten highest points in the Klamath Mountains:
- Mount Eddy (Trinity County and Siskiyou County, California; 9,029 feet (2,752 m))
- Thompson Peak (Trinity and Siskiyou County, California; 8,994 feet (2,741 m))
- Mount Hilton (Trinity and Siskiyou County, California; 8,934 feet (2,723 m))
- Caesar Peak (Trinity and Siskiyou County, California; 8,920 feet (2,720 m))
- Sawtooth Mountain (Trinity County, California; 8,891 feet (2,710 m))
- Wedding Cake Mountain (Trinity County, California; 8,570 feet (2,610 m))
- Caribou Mountain (Siskiyou County, California; 8,564 feet (2,610 m))
- China Mountain (Siskiyou County, California; 8,551 feet (2,606 m))
- Gibson Peak (Trinity County, California; 8,403 feet (2,561 m))
- Boulder Peak (Siskiyou County, California; 8,299 feet (2,530 m))
Protected areas
A large portion of the Klamath Mountains is managed by the
The Klamath Mountains contain 11 wilderness areas in both Oregon and California:[10][11]
Recreation
There are extensive hiking trail systems, recreation areas, and campgrounds both primitive and developed in the Klamaths. A 211-mile (340 km) stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) passes through these mountains as well. This section of the PCT is known locally as "The Big Bend" and is the transition from the California Floristic Province to the Cascades.
The
Geology
The rocks of the Klamath Mountains originated as
Subsequent lava flows from active volcanoes in the Cascade Range and the erosion of the Oregon Coast Range to the north partially covered these rocks with basalt and sediments.[12]
Ecology
Flora
As a consequence of the geology, the mountains harbor rich biodiversity, with several distinct plant communities, including temperate rain forests, moist inland forests, oak forests and savannas, high elevation forests, and alpine grasslands. These communities form the
The ecoregion includes several
- Conifers
A large concentration of diverse coniferous species of trees exists in these mountains.
In 1969, Drs. John O. Sawyer and Dale Thornburgh discovered 17 species of conifers in 1 square mile (2.6 km2) around Little Duck Lake and Sugar Creek in the Russian Wilderness. They called this diverse area the Miracle Mile.[3][5][22] In 2013 Richard Moore identified an 18th species, western juniper, in the Sugar Creek canyon.[23] This is now considered the richest assemblage of conifers per unit area in any temperate region on Earth.
Conifer species in the Klamath Mountains include
- Trinity Alps flora
Typical species of the Trinity Alps region include
Fauna
The vast forested wildlands, coupled with a low rate of human settlement in the rugged remote terrain, makes for excellent habitat for a number of species.
The area used to be home to
Some of the most remote areas are prone to rumors of Bigfoot/
Rivers and fish
Major rivers and lakes in the Klamath Mountains include the Klamath River, Trinity River, Smith River, Salmon River, Rogue River, Scott River, upper Sacramento River and Castle Lake.
The many mountains, streams and rivers form a major spawning ground for several species of trout and salmon; yet recently, in the last 50 years, some of the fish stocks have fallen drastically, particularly salmon stocks. The ecoregion's rivers and streams are home to nine species of native
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Klamath Mountains". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- ^ Sugihara, et al., pp. 170–194
- ^ a b c d "Klamath National Forest". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- ^ a b Sawyer (2004), pp. 128–135
- ^ a b c Sawyer (2006), p. 104
- ^ Benke, et al., p. 543
- ^ "California Geological Survey: Note 36 (California Geomorphic Provinces)" (PDF). California Department of Conservation. December 1, 2002. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ "Pacific Northwest Forest Areas". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ "Map of the National Forests and Other Public Lands of California". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ "Wilderness". Oregon Wild. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ "Wilderness Areas in California". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ a b Bishop, pp. 29–31
- ^ a b Irwin, William P.; Wooden, Joseph L. "Plutons and Accretionary Episodes of the Klamath Mountains, California and Oregon". U.S. Geological Survey. Open-File Report 99-374.
- ^ a b "Klamath Mountains". Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Archived from the original on May 7, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ "Serpentine and Serpentinite". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ Hirt, William. "Geologic Overview of the Eastern Klamath Mountains" (PDF). Weed, CA: College of the Siskiyous Department of Natural Sciences. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ Hogan, C. Michael (August 29, 2008). "California Black Oak: Quercus kelloggii". GlobalTwitcher. N. Stromberg. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^
Kauffmann, Michael (2012). Conifer Country. Kneeland, CA: Backcountry Press. OCLC 798852130.
- ^ "A Center of Diversity, Endemism, and Rarity". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ Briles, et al., p. 590
- ^ a b Axelrod, p. 51
- ^ Kauffmann, Michael (October 2012). "Kin to the Earth - Remembering John Sawyer". Northcoast Environmental Center. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Kauffmann, Michael. "Field Notes From Plant Explorations". Conifer Country. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ^ Strothmann and Roy, p. 1
- ^ "Port-Orford-cedar Gate Closures In Effect". U.S. Forest Service. October 22, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Sawyer (2006), pp. 69, 71, 78, 80, 101, 117, 184
- ^ "The Klamath/North Coast Bioregion: An Overview". California Natural Resources Agency. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ White, pp. 54, 243, 261, 318, 322
- ^ Lewon, p. 20
- ^ Wuerthner, p. 121
- ^ "Botanical Areas". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ "Elk Habitat Management Strategy: Klamath National Forest" (PDF). County of Siskiyou. May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2012.
- ^ Urness, Zach (September 17, 2011). "Happy Camp, Calif., in Klamath River Country, is an Epicenter of Outdoors Recreation". The Oregonian. Portland, OR.
- ^ Moyle, Peter B.; Israel, Joshua A.; Purdy, Sabra E. (2008). "Salmon, Steelhead, and Trout in California: Status of an Emblematic Fauna" (PDF). University of California, Davis. pp. 20, 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Klamath-Siskiyou". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Trinity River". Kiene's Fly Shop. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
- ^ Sawyer (2006), pp. 162–164, 166
- ^ "Klamath Mountains Ecoregion" (PDF). Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. January 2006. p. 195. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 23, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
Works cited
- Axelrod, Daniel I. (January 1985). Miocene Floras from the Middlegate Basin, West-Central Nevada. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences. Vol. 129. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. OCLC 10532850.
- Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Stanford, Jack A.; Gregory, Stanley V.; Hauer, Richard F.; Snyder, Eric B. (2005). Rivers of North America. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press. OCLC 59003378.
- Bishop, Ellen Morris (2004). Hiking Oregon's Geology (2nd ed.). Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books. OCLC 53887464.
- Briles, Christy E.; Whitlock, Cathy; Skinner, Carl N.; Mohr, Jerry (2011). "Holocene forest development and maintenance on different substrates in the Klamath Mountains, northern California, USA" (PDF). Ecology. 92 (3). Ecological Society of America: 590–601. PMID 21608468. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- Lewon, Dennis (2001). Hiking California's Trinity Alps Wilderness. Helena, MT: Falcon. OCLC 47039653.
- Kauffmann, Michael (2012). Conifer Country (1st ed.). Kneeland, CA: Backcountry Press. OCLC 798852130.
- Sawyer, John O. (2004). "Conifers of the Klamath Mountains". Vegetation Ecology, Proceedings of the second conference on Klamath-Siskiyou ecology. Cave Junction, OR: Siskiyou Field Institute.
- Sawyer, John O. (2006). Northwest California: A Natural History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. OCLC 76812956.
- Skinner, C.N.; Taylor, A.H.; Agee, J.K. (2006). "Klamath Mountains bioregion". In Sugihara, N.G.; van Wagtendonk, J.W.; Fites-Kaufman, J.; Shaffer, K.E; Thode, A.E. (eds.). Fire in California’s Ecosystems. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. OCLC 86110764.
- Strothmann, R.O.; Roy, Douglass F. (December 1984). "Regeneration of Douglas-fir in the Klamath Mountains Region, California and Oregon" (PDF). U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- White, Mike (2010). Trinity Alps and Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas (5th ed.). Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press. OCLC 351330287.
- Wuerthner, George (1997). California's Wilderness Areas. Englewood, CO: Westcliffe Publishers. OCLC 39698847.
External links
- Rare and Endemic Conifers of Northwest California - California Native Plant Society
- Status Review for Klamath Mountains Province Steelhead - NOAA report