The Bristol Mountains are found in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, USA, just west of

Mojave National Preserve Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of ...

. The range, which reaches an elevation of 3,874 feet (1,181 m), is located in

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

, and crosses

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

between

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

and the Granite Mountains. At the southern end of the range lies the town of Amboy, the Amboy Crater, and

Bristol Dry Lake Bristol Lake is a dry lake in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, northeast of Twentynine Palms. Bristol Lake is located southeast of Amboy and U.S. Route 66, and is also south of Cadiz. Amboy Crater and the Bullion Mou ...

Bristol Mountains Wilderness Area

Most of the Bristol Mountains is in a Federally designated Wilderness and lies within either th
Bristol Mountains Wilderness Area
or th

The remainder of the range is designated for Wilderness status in the proposed California Desert Protection Act of 2010. Project Carryall, proposed in 1963 by the Atomic Energy Commission, the California Division of Highways (now called

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...

), and the Santa Fe Railway, would have used 22 nuclear explosions to excavate a massive roadcut through the Bristol Mountains in the Mojave Desert, to accommodate construction of Interstate 40 and a new rail line. This project would have been part of

Operation Plowshare Project Plowshare was the overall United States program for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. The program was organized in June 1957 as part of the worldwide Atoms for Peace efforts. As ...

if not for public opposition.

References

Official Bristol Mountains Wilderness Area website

BLM Bristol Mountains Wilderness Area Map

BLM Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area Map

Notes

{{authority control Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of San Bernardino County, California Mountain ranges of Southern California Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of San Bernardino County, California Bureau of Land Management areas in California

Bristol Mountains Wilderness Area

See also

References

Notes