The San Gorgonio Wilderness is located in the eastern
San Bernardino Mountains, 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 into northern
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...
,
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
.
It begins north of
San Gorgonio Pass
The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Fault, a major tra ...
, approximately west of
Morongo Valley
Morongo Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) on State Route 62 in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2010 census, up from 1,929 at the 2000 census. The town is bordered by Yucca Valley, Californ ...
and northwest of
Palm Springs, California.
Geography
The wilderness is part of the eastern slope of the San Bernardino Mountains, with topography rapidly changing from low, rolling
foothills and
canyons to steep, rugged
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
s. These mountains include
Mount San Gorgonio San Gorgonio is Spanish for "Saint Gorgonius";
San Gorgonio might also refer to:
Landforms and parks
*San Gorgonio Mountain, California, United States
*San Gorgonio Pass, California, United States
*San Gorgonio River, California, United States
* S ...
and several other peaks over . Elevations range from . Because of this elevation gradient, the wilderness reflects a transition between
desert,
coastal
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
and
mountain environments, including the different types of vegetation representative of each elevation.
[
The United States Congress designated the San Gorgonio Wilderness in 1964. By 1984, it expanded to . In 1994, it was further expanded with additional ]BLM
BLM most commonly refers to:
* Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization
* Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency
BLM may also refer to:
Organizations
* BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...
lands and it now has a total of .
Sand to Snow National Monument
The San Gorgonio Wilderness is now within the Sand to Snow National Monument
Sand to Snow National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in San Bernardino County and northern Riverside County, Southern California.
It protects diverse montane and desert habitats of the San Bernardino Mountains, southern Mojave Des ...
, established by President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
in February 2016. It is managed jointly by the San Bernardino National Forest
The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...
and the Bureau of Land Management.USDA Forest Service: Sand to Snow National Monument webpage
(71,000 acres).
See also
*
References
External links
Recreation.gov: San Gorgonio Wilderness areaWilderness.net: San Gorgonio Wilderness!-- Broken link! -->
San Gorgonio Wilderness Association
{{authority control
Wilderness areas of California
San Bernardino Mountains
Sand to Snow National Monument
Protected areas of San Bernardino County, California
Protected areas of Riverside County, California
Bureau of Land Management areas in California
San Bernardino National Forest
IUCN Category Ib
Protected areas established in 1964
1964 establishments in California