Cobb Mountain is the tallest mountain in the

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 ...

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 ...

Location

Cobb Mountain's main summit is located in Lake County, west of the town of

Cobb Cobb may refer to: People * Cobb (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Cobb * Cobb Rooney (1900–1973), American professional football running back Places New Zealand * Cobb River * Cobb Reservoir * Cobb Power ...

. Like nearby

Mount Saint Helena Mount Saint Helena (Wappo: Kanamota, "Human Mountain") is a peak in the Mayacamas Mountains with flanks in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties of California. Composed of uplifted volcanic rocks from the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, it is one of the ...

, Cobb Mountain is tall enough to receive winter snowfall. The mountain has a sub-peak referred to as Cobb Mountain – Southwest Peak with an elevation of about 4483+ feet, (1367+ m); Southwest Peak lies on the Sonoma-Lake county line and is the highest point in Sonoma County. Nearby taller peaks like Mount Saint Helena and Snow Mountain can be seen from this summit.Height and visual lines-of-sight are based on

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

images. Cobb Mountain is one of the mountains in the Cobb Mountain Area, many of which have volcanic origin. Others are Boggs Mountain, Mount Hannah and Seigler Mountain. There are isolated small valleys and basins between the mountain peaks. The east end of Cobb Mountain drains into the headwaters of Putah Creek, then into the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

, the

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

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The south slopes of Cobb Mountain drain into Anderson Creek, and thence into Putah Creek. The southwest slopes of Cobb Mountain drain into Cobb Creek, thence into Big Sulphur Creek, the Russian River, and into the Pacific. The northwest slopes of Cobb Mountain drain into Alder Creek, thence into Kelsey Creek, Clear Lake, Cache Creek, and the Sacramento River. The northeast slopes of Cobb Mountain drain into Kelsey Creek. Much of Cobb Mountain lies within

The Geysers The Geysers is the world's largest geothermal field, containing a complex of 18 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains approximately north of San Francisco, California. Geysers produced ...

Geothermal Field, and several geothermal plants are located on the mountain. Other areas on the mountain are owned by Cobb Mountain Spring Water (now sold as Mayacamas Mountain Spring Water) or are privately held timberlands. Because much of Cobb Mountain is privately owned, it is largely not accessible to the general public.

History

The mountain is named after John Cobb, the first pioneer to settle in the area. Cobb was born in

Henry County, Kentucky Henry County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky bordering the Kentucky River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,678. Its county seat is New Castle, but its largest city is Eminence. T ...

on May 19, 1814. In 1853 he arrived in California and homesteaded in Cobb Valley and went on to become the county assessor and the road overseer for the Clearlake District in 1855. He built a combined saw and gristmill in 1859, which was later destroyed by fire. He sold his interests and moved to

Napa County Napa County () is a County (United States), county north of San Pablo Bay located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 138,019. The county seat i ...

around 1860. The Cobb Mountain area was devastated in 2015 by the

Valley Fire The Valley Fire was a wildfire during the 2015 California wildfires, 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 12 in Lake County, California. It began shortly after 1:00 pm near Cobb, California, Cobb with multiple reports of a ...

, including much of the town of Cobb, as well as several geothermal facilities. The catastrophic fire, the third-most destructive in California's history, started on Cobb Mountain as the result of faulty hot tub wiring according to

Cal Fire The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various are ...

. Four people died and a total were burned over.

References

Sources

External links

* {{authority control Mountains of Lake County, California Mayacamas Mountains Mountains of Northern California Pleistocene lava domes Volcanoes of California Lava domes of the United States