Snow Mountain Wilderness

Snow Mountain Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Snow Mountain, East Peak, April, 2003
Location of Snow Mountain Wilderness
Location	Mendocino National Forest; Lake / Colusa / Glenn counties, California, United States
Nearest city	Lakeport, California
Coordinates	39°25′00″N 122°43′19″W / 39.41667°N 122.72194°W / 39.41667; -122.72194Coordinates: 39°25′00″N 122°43′19″W / 39.41667°N 122.72194°W / 39.41667; -122.72194
Area	37,679 acres (152.48 km²)
Established	1984
Governing body	United States Forest Service

The Snow Mountain Wilderness is a 60,076-acre (243.12 km²) federally designated wilderness area located 65 miles (105 km) north of Santa Rosa, California, USA in the Mendocino National Forest. The U.S. Congress passed the California Wilderness Act of 1984 which created 23 new wilderness areas including Snow Mountain.^[1] It lies within the North Coast Range of mountains.

Elevations are from 1,800 feet (500 m) to 7,056 feet (2,151 m). The wilderness covers the crest of this North Coast Range mountain divide for 13 miles (21 km) and the summit area includes two peaks, East (7,050 ft^[2]) and West (7,021 ft^[3]).

On October 17, 2006 the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act was signed into law (Public Law No: 109-362) which added 23,706 acres (95.93 km²) to the Snow Mountain Wilderness.^[4] In July 2015, the area became part of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

The Trough Fire burned 24,970 acres (101.1 km²) of Snow Mountain Wilderness and national forest land in August 2001. More than 12 million dollars was spent to contain the wildfire even though most of the area was within the wilderness boundary. This human-caused wildfire started near Fouts Springs, an off-road vehicle recreational area in Mendocino National Forest.^[5]

Streams and waterways

The Middle and South Forks of Stony Creek flow down the east side of the divide. The west slopes are drained by the main Eel River and the Rice Fork of the Eel. Other tributaries are Bearwallow Creek and Thistle Glade Creek. Stony Creek has a self-sustaining population of wild rainbow trout.

Flora and fauna

More than 500 species of plants have been identified in the wilderness as well as 122 species of wildlife. The highest elevations have a subalpine environment with barren, rocky slopes and stunted red fir trees, while middle and lower elevations have stands of mixed conifers such as white fir, Jeffrey pine and incense cedar as well as black oak. Mountain-mahogany grows on exposed ridges in the wilderness and is a food source for the black-tailed deer. Rare native plants include Sonoma manzanita (Arctostaphylos canescens ssp. sonomensis) on Snow Mountain East, on St John's Mountain is the endemic annual herb bentflower fiddleneck (Amsinckia lunaris).

Other wildlife include black bear, mountain lion, spotted owl and game birds like California quail, sooty grouse and bandtailed pigeon.

Recreation

Wilderness boundary sign at Bearwallow Trail (note burn area)

Activities in the wilderness include day hiking, backpacking, skiing, fishing and horseback riding. The Forest Service encourages the practice of Leave No Trace principles of outdoor travel to minimize human impact on the environment.

Trails

There are 37 miles (60 km) of maintained trails and 18.5 miles (29.8 km) of unmaintained trails. Eight trailheads provide access with four of those being above 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The lower elevation trails are Trout Creek and Bearwallow trail. The trailhead of Bearwallow begins on the east side of the wilderness and crosses the southern and western slopes of Saint John Mountain (6,719 ft^[6]).

The Milk Ranch Loop Trail is nine miles (14 km) long and crosses privately owned land of the Milk Ranch. Permission from the owner allows using the trail, but no camping. The name "Milk Ranch" comes from one of the first settlers to the mountain in the late 19th century, a Mrs. Tobobin who operated a dairy ranch in the meadow. In the spring the cows would be moved to this higher elevation meadow of the mountain and in autumn, the butter would be brought down to the towns of Williams and Willows to be sold.^[7]

Footnotes

↑ California Wilderness Act of 1984 on the National Park Service web site
↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS) Feature Detail Report
↑ USGS Feature Detail Report
↑ "H.R. 233 (109th Congress): Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act" on GovTracks.us
↑ "Trough Fire — California", Pacific Biodiversity Institute
↑ USGS
↑ Mauldin, Henry. Mountains & Pioneers of Lake County, Earthen Vessels Productions, Inc, 1995, p.29

References

Adkinson, Ron (2001). Wild Northern California. Guilford, Conn: Falcon. pp. 238–241. ISBN 978-1-56044-781-8.

External links

Protected areas of California

National Park System

National Parks	Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia Yosemite

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Other	Burleigh H. Murray Ranch California State Mining and Mineral Museum California State Capitol Museum California State Railroad Museum Castro Adobe Delta Meadows Estero Bay Hatton Canyon Indio Hills Palms Point Cabrillo Light Station Point Lobos Ranch Point Montara Light Station Reynolds Wayside Campground San Timoteo Canyon Stone Lake Verdugo Mountains Ward Creek Wildwood Canyon

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National Wilderness Preservation System	Agua Tibia Ansel Adams Bucks Lake Caribou Carson-Iceberg Castle Crags Cucamonga Desolation Dick Smith Dinkey Lakes Emigrant Golden Trout Hoover Inyo Mountains Ishi Jennie Lakes John Muir Kaiser Marble Mountain Mokelumne Mount Shasta Wilderness North Fork San Gabriel Sanhedrin San Jacinto San Rafael Sespe Siskiyou Snow Mountain South Fork Eel River South Sierra South Warner Thousand Lakes Trinity Alps Ventana Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Yuki

National Monuments and Recreation Areas	Giant Sequoia National Monument San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Smith River National Recreation Area Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area Sand to Snow National Monument

State Forests

Boggs Mountain Demonstration Ellen Pickett Jackson Demonstration Las Posadas LaTour Demonstration Mount Zion Mountain Home Demonstration Soquel Demonstration

National Wildlife Refuges

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Bureau of Land Management National Landscape Conservation System

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