The Coast Ranges of

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 ...

span from Del Norte or

Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka, California, Eureka. Humboldt County compri ...

, south to

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of Southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa Ba ...

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Pacific Coast Range ...

and the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

Physiographic Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

ally, they are a section of the larger

Pacific Border province The Pacific Border province is a physiographic province of the Physiographic regions of the world physical geography system. Description The Pacific Border province encompasses most of the North American West Coast of the United States, Pacifi ...

, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

has included the "

California Coast Ranges Biosphere Reserve The California Coast Ranges Biosphere Reserve (established 1983) was a UNESCO Biosphere reserve located along the California Coast Ranges of northern California and the San Francisco Bay area until June 2017. This biosphere reserve includes a high ...

" in its

Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

World Network of Biosphere Reserves The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere or nature reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage susta ...

since 1983. *

Physiography

The northern end of the California Coast Ranges overlap the southern end of the

for approximately on the west. They extend southward for more than to where the coastline turns eastward along the

Santa Barbara Channel The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Co ...

, around the area of

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as ...

. Here the southern end meets the Los Angeles

, or ''Sierras de los Angeles''. The rocks themselves that comprise the mountains are of a great variety and widely varying geologic ages. Most of the rocks were formed during the

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

and

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

periods. Most were deposited on the sea bottom as sediments, but in many places also had cracks, crevices and other gaps infused with molten lava or other masses of

igneous rock Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

, which were forced in molten condition into the sedimentary rocks. All of the range has been folded and faulted during several periods, with erosion of the softer rock giving much of the current appearance.

Mineralogy

The California Ranges had a high production of mercury following the discovery of gold in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. In the Cache Creek Basin,

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...

deposits near Clear Lake are the northernmost of a group of similar deposits associated with volcanism and migration of a transform fault system. During 1877, these deposits hit their peak production of mercury, producing approximately . These abandoned mines are still a source of mine waste runoff in Cache Creek and other downstream bodies of water.

Northern Coast Ranges

The Northern Coast Ranges are a section of the California Coast Ranges. They run parallel to the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

from the North San Francisco Bay Area to coastal

Del Norte County Del Norte County (Spanish for "Of The North") is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Its population was 27,743 as of the 2020 census, down from 28 ...

. The

, including the

Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a Coast Ranges, coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, Calif ...

sub-range, lie to the north and northeast. The Southern Coast Ranges lie to the south. Morning on the Lost Coast

Geography

The Northern Coast Ranges run north–south parallel to the coast. Component ranges within the Northern Coast Ranges include the

Mendocino Range The Mendocino Range is one of several coastal mountain ranges which compose the Pacific Coast Ranges, Pacific Coast Range. This massive range of coastal mountains was formed during a period of coastal orogeny, millions of years ago. The Mendocino ...

of western

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

and the Mayacamas, Sonoma, and

Vaca Mountains The Vaca Mountains are a mountain range in Napa County, California, Napa and Solano County, California, Solano Counties, California that is one of the California Coast Ranges. They represent the easternmost of the Inner Coast Ranges in north−ce ...

and the

Marin Hills The Marin Hills are a series of steep high ridges and peaks in southern Marin County. They are a part of the long Pacific Coast Ranges mountain system. The centerpoint of these hills is the 2,571 foot (784 m) Mount Tamalpais near Mill Valley. T ...

of the North Bay. They also include the King Range, which meet the sea in the "

Lost Coast The Lost Coast is a mostly natural and undeveloped area of the California North Coast in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, which includes the King Range. It was named the "Lost Coast" after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s. In a ...

" region. The southernmost peak of the Northern Coast Ranges is

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...

. The highest point in the Northern Coast Ranges is

Mount Linn Mount Linn, at , is the easternmost summit of South Yolla Bolly Mountain, and is located in the Yolla Bolly Mountains of the Northern Coast Ranges and sibling Klamath Mountains System, in Tehama County, northwestern California. Mt. Linn is the ...

, at 8,098 ft. (2,468 m).

Outer and Inner ranges

The Northern Coast Ranges consist of two main parallel belts of mountains, the Outer Northern Coast Ranges lying along the coast, and the Inner Northern Coast Ranges running inland to the east. They are separated by a long system of valleys. The northern valley portion is drained by the Eel River and its tributaries, and the southern by the Russian River. A series of short rivers, including the

Mattole The Mattole, including the Bear River Indians, are a group of Native Americans in California. Their traditional lands are along the Mattole and Bear Rivers near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California. A notable difference between the Ma ...

, Gualala, and Navarro rivers, drain the western slopes of the ranges. The eastern slopes of the ranges drain into the

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

. Clear Lake lies in the southeast portion of the range, and drains eastward via Cache Creek.

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

runs generally north–south in the valleys between the Outer and Inner Northern Coast Ranges.

Natural history

The seaward face of the coastal Outer Northern Coast Ranges is part of the

Northern California coastal forests Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

ecoregion, home to lush forests of

Coast Redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...

and

Coast Douglas-fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'', commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward t ...

. The inland and dryer Inner Northern Coast Ranges are part of the

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

ecoregion, home to a number of plant communities including: mixed evergreen forest;

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the c ...

; and Interior chaparral and woodland. A major specific plant community of the inner ranges is

Mediterranean California Lower Montane Black Oak-Conifer Forest The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eu ...

, which supports particularly high

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

within the California Coast Ranges, including the nominate

California Black Oak ''Quercus kelloggii'', the California black oak or Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section (genus ''Quercus'', section ''Lobatae'', series ''Agrifoliae'') native to western North America. Description ''Quercus kelloggii'' grows from one ...

. Columbian

Black-tailed Deer Black-tailed deer or blacktail deer occupy coastal regions of western North America. There are two subspecies, the Columbian black-tailed deer (''Odocoileus hemionus columbianus'') which ranges from the Pacific Northwest of the United States and ...

are the most widespread large mammal, after humans, of the Northern Coast Ranges. The rivers in the ranges are home to several species of

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

Southern Coast Ranges

Geography

The Southern Coast Ranges, of the California Coast Ranges in the Pacific Coast Ranges System, run north and south, parallel to the Pacific Coast in north-central through north-southern California. The Southern Coast Ranges begin on the

San Francisco Peninsula The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Los Altos and Mountain View, ...

and in the East San Francisco Bay Area, and run south into

. The

lie to the south. The

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

is on the east, and Pacific Ocean on the west. The Southern Coast Ranges include the

Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges, and overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la Co ...

, the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay Area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley a ...

, the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

, the

Gabilan Range The Gabilan Range or Gabilán Range (Spanish for "sparrow hawk") is a mountain range in the inner California Coast Ranges System, located in Monterey County and San Benito County of central California. Pinnacles National Park is located in the s ...

, the

Santa Lucia Range The Santa Lucia Range (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Mountains is a rugged mountain range in coastal Central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than fro ...

and

Sierra de Salinas Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" or "mountain chain" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieve ...

, the

Temblor Range The Temblor Range is a mountain range within the California Coast Ranges, at the southwestern extremity of the San Joaquin Valley in California in the United States. It runs in a northwest-southeasterly direction along the borders of Kern County a ...

, and the Sierra Madre. There are Outer Southern Coast Ranges along the Pacific Ocean on the west, and Inner Southern Coast Ranges to the east, inland to the

. The central and southern

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

and the

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Salinas'') is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and ...

lie between them. The highest point of the Southern Coast Ranges is Junipero Serra Peak in the Santa Lucia Range, at . Other peaks include

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton, California, Clayton and northeast of Danville, Califo ...

at , and Mount Hamilton at .

Natural history

The Southern Coast Ranges have a predominantly

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, and are primarily within the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

. However, the moister areas of the

lie within the

ecoregion, characterized by forests of

Coast redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...

. Isolated groves of Coast redwoods are also found in the

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

region of the Santa Lucia Range, making them the southernmost natural occurrences of the species. Some of the rarest forest

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

that occurs in the California Coast Ranges are the

Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forests The maritime coast range ponderosa pine forests, also known as ponderosa sand parklands and ponderosa pine sandhills, are a rare temperate forest community consisting of open stands of a disjunct population of ponderosa pine growing on sandy soils ...

of the western Santa Cruz Mountains.Earth Metrics Inc. (1990) ''Environmental Impact Report for the Scotts Valley Redevelopment Area'', State of California Clearinghouse Report 7888, Sacramento, California These isolated groves may include

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

, and

knobcone pine The knobcone pine, ''Pinus attenuata'' (also called ''Pinus tuberculata''), is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils. It ranges from the mountains of southern Oregon to Baja California with the greatest concentration in northern Calif ...

. Notably, the highest slopes of the Santa Lucias contain small patches of Sierran Conifer forest, including

incense cedar ''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. Three species are native to eastern Asia and one to western North Ame ...

, and ponderosa, Jeffrey, and

sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest Conifer cone, cones of any conifer. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coa ...

s. Steep rocky slopes harbor the endemic

Santa Lucia Fir ''Abies bracteata'', the Santa Lucia fir or bristlecone fir, is the rarest fir in North America, and according to some, the world. It is confined to steep-sided slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains, in the Big Sur ...

, the rarest species of fir on earth. The California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion has a great range of plant communities in the Southern Coast Ranges, including mixed evergreen forests,

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

northern coastal scrub Northern coastal scrub is a diverse scrubland plant community found along the Pacific Coast from Northern California to Southern Oregon, as well as some offshore islands. It frequently forms a landscape mosaic with California coastal prairie, coast ...

, and the

Monterey Pine ''Pinus radiata'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California and Mexico (on Guadalupe Island and Ced ...

woodlands of the

Monterey Peninsula The Monterey Peninsula anchors the northern portion on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California and comprises the cities of Monterey, California, Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, California, P ...

and two other coastal enclaves of the Santa Lucia Range. The name "

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

" comes from the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

word

chaparro Chaparro is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aldo Chaparro (born 1965), Peruvian sculptor known for his works in stainless steel * Benigno Chaparro (born 1958), retired Paraguayan professional footballer * Cristián Ch ...

, applied to California scrub oaks and Coastal scrub oaks. Common tree species of oak woodlands include oaks, California bay, and buckeye. Riparian species of the coast ranges include

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

, white alder,

willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

, and

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America. In addition to uses by animals, it is of some culinary and woodworking interest. Description Big ...

. Columbian

Black-tailed deer Black-tailed deer or blacktail deer occupy coastal regions of western North America. There are two subspecies, the Columbian black-tailed deer (''Odocoileus hemionus columbianus'') which ranges from the Pacific Northwest of the United States and ...

occupy the northern and more coastal portions of the Southern Coast Ranges, and California mule deer occupy inland and southernmost portions of the Southern Coast Ranges.

Ranges

* Bald Hills *

Caliente Range The Caliente Range is a west-east trending zone of uplift mountains in the California Coast Ranges, in central California. The highest peak of the range is Caliente Mountain at in elevation, located in southeastern San Luis Obispo County. Geol ...

* Chalk Mountains *

* King Range *

La Panza Range The La Panza Range is a mountain range in the Central Coast of California region in San Luis Obispo County, east of the small town of Santa Margarita. It is one of the California Coast Ranges and in the Los Padres National Forest. The range is ab ...

Mayacamas Mountains The Mayacamas Mountains are located in northwestern California in the United States. The mountain range is part of the Northern Inner Coast Ranges, of the California Coast Ranges System. Geography The Mayacamas Mountains are located south of th ...

Shelton Buttes Geography Hydrology Landscape Climate The Shelton Buttes are a mountain group of Buttes in Humboldt County, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the ...

Sonoma Mountains The Sonoma Mountains are a northwest–southeast trending mountain range of the Inner Coast Ranges in the California Coast Ranges System, located in Sonoma County, Northern California. Geography The Sonoma Mountains range is approximately long ...

Northern Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Phy ...

Southern Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Phy ...

References

External links

Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
*Map: * {{California Pacific Coast Ranges Lists of mountain ranges of the United States Mountain ranges of California Mountain ranges of Northern California Mountain ranges of Southern California Geologic provinces of California Physiographic sections Mountain ranges of the Western United States Biosphere reserves of the United States West Coast of the United States

Physiography

Mineralogy

Northern Coast Ranges

Geography

Outer and Inner ranges

Natural history

Southern Coast Ranges

Geography

Natural history

Ranges

See also

References

External links