The Calico Mountains of California are a mountain range located in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

. The range spans San Bernardino and Inyo counties in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Geography

The Calico Mountains are geologically colorful range that lie in a northwest-southeast direction, and are located just north of Barstow and Yermo, and of

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

. Historic Pickhandle Pass and Jackhammer Gap lie at the northern end of the mountains on Fort Irwin Road, with the Fort Irwin Military Reservation nearby. The Calico Mountains have been active in California mining history.

Peaks

Calico Peak, the highest point, is in elevation, in the San Bernardino County portion of the range (N 34.995259 and W -116.838369).

Features

The Rainbow Basin geologic feature, in 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 ...

manage
Rainbow Basin Natural Area
is just north of Barstow. Calico Ghost Town is located in the Yermo Hills (Calico Hills) at the western edge of the Calico Mountains, north of Yermo. The Calico Early Man Site is a Paleo-Indians lithic workshop for Stone tools and a simple quarry

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

in the mountains also.

Architectural stone

Stone from the Calico Mountains was used in the interior of the 1968 Volcano House at nearby Newberry Springs.

References

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External links