The Argus Range is a mountain range located primarily in
Inyo County, California
Inyo County () is a County (United States), county in the Eastern California, eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...
, southeast of the town of
Darwin. The range forms the western boundary of
Panamint Valley, and the northwestern boundary of
Searles Valley. The
Coso Range is located to the west, and the
Panamint Range
The Panamint Range is a short rugged fault-block mountain range in the northern Mojave Desert, within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, eastern California. A small part of the southern end of the range is in San Bernardino County. Dr. D ...
to the east.
Geography
The Argus Range is one of the westernmost of the
Basin and Range Province
The Basin and Range Province is a vast United States physiographic region, physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and Northern Mexico, northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, charac ...
ranges.
The northern end of the range is just south of the
Panamint Springs Resort on
Highway 190. The range runs south to
Argus Peak, just northwest of
Searles Lake
Searles Lake is an Endorheic basin, endorheic dry lake in the Searles Valley of the Mojave Desert, in northwestern San Bernardino County, California. The lake in the past was also called Slate Range Lake and Borax Lake.
The mining community of ...
, near the town of
Trona, California. In addition to Argus Peak, the range contains
Maturango Peak. The southernmost end of the range is in
San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, 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 th ...
.
The crest of the Argus Range is located within
NAWS China Lake and so the peaks of this range are off-limits to the general public. The two peaks that are most alluring to would-be hikers are Argus Peak () and Maturango Peak () towering to the west of Panamint Valley.
Argus Range Wilderness
The Argus Range Wilderness, under the administration of the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...
(BLM), runs along the east side of the Argus Range.
It extends from the military reservation on the west to the foot of the Argus Range on the east. For most of its length, this wilderness area is no more than two miles (3 km) wide. Several private property holdings are located within this wilderness area including a rather deep cherry-stem at Snow Canyon and a parcel known as Onyx Springs between Shepherd and Bendire Canyons. Many land-owners were affected by the creation of the Argus Range Wilderness Area in 1994 .
References
External links
Argus Range Wilderness website Bureau of Land Management.
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Mountain ranges of Inyo County, California
Mountain ranges of San Bernardino County, California
Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert
Protected areas of the Mojave Desert