The Desert

Photo by Birgitta Jansen
Fact Sheet: Conglomerate Mesa
Fact Sheet: Conglomerate Mesa 1024 626 CalWild

This roadless area provides visitors with expansive views of multiple Wilderness Areas, Owens Lake, the glittering Sierra Nevada and into the expanses of Saline Valley and Death Valley National Park.…

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Beavertail Cactus, photo by John Dittli
Fact Sheet: Soda Mountains Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Soda Mountains Wilderness 1024 683 CalWild

This scenic, horseshoe-shaped range includes the terminus of the great Mojave River — at the Cronese Lakes most recently, and Silver Lake in the not-too-distant past. Ancient Native Americans’ use…

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photo by Geoffrey Smith
Fact Sheet: Table Mountain Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Table Mountain Wilderness 1024 630 CalWild

Surrounded on three sides by Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Table Mountain occupies a bench on the eastern slope of the Peninsular Range at an average elevation of 3,500 feet.…

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photo by Bob Wick, BLM
Fact Sheet: Surprise Canyon WSR
Fact Sheet: Surprise Canyon WSR 1024 425 CalWild

Surprise Canyon is a true rarity in the California desert with a year-round flow of water, waterfalls, and thickets of willows and other riparian plant life. This narrow canyon has…

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Fact Sheet: Sleeping Beauty Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Sleeping Beauty Wilderness 1024 456 CalWild

At almost 47,000 acres, the Sleeping Beauty area is an unparalleled vast and largely untouched landscape located in the heart of California’s Mojave Desert. The area boasts outstanding primitive and…

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Rose Valley 2 by Linda Castro
Fact Sheet: Rose Valley Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Rose Valley Wilderness 1024 655 CalWild

The Rose Valley provides an almost 22,000-acre wilderness-quality landscape. It’s largely unspoiled character makes it prime habitat for numerous bird and animal species, including the endangered Owens Valley checker bloom…

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photo courtesy of BLM
Fact Sheet: Rodman Mountains Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Rodman Mountains Wilderness 1024 576 CalWild

Over 17,000 acres of citizen-inventoried lands with wilderness characteristics surround the BLM-managed Rodman Mountains Wilderness. This unprotected area includes extensions of the rugged Rodman Mountains and the washes and bajadas…

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photo by John Dittli
Fact Sheet: Palo Verde Mountains Additions
Fact Sheet: Palo Verde Mountains Additions 1024 398 CalWild

Palo Verde Peak and Thumb Peak are the most notable mountains in this area, but a variety of jagged mountains sprawl across the landscape. Between the slopes of the mountains…

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Fact Sheet: Newberry Mountains Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Newberry Mountains Wilderness 1024 456 CalWild

Over 9,000 acres of citizen- and BLM-inventoried lands with wilderness characteristics surround the Newberry Mountains Wilderness. The volcanic Newberry Mountains is one of the most accessible wild places in the…

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Fact Sheet: Milpitas Wash Wilderness
Fact Sheet: Milpitas Wash Wilderness 1024 208 CalWild

Milpitas Wash is near the southern end of the Mule Mountains and the Opal Hill Mine. The landscape is primarily desert mountain foothills as well as wash and floodplain habitats.…

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