Cow Mountain
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Cow Mountain is a ridge 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 ...
in
Lake County, California Lake County is a County (United States), county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 68,163. The county seat is Lakeport, California, Lakepor ...
, and
Mendocino County, California 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 ...
. It is home to two large recreation areas. One is closed to off-road vehicles and the other is not. Erosion from the mountain, caused in part by human land use, contributes sediment and nutrients to Clear Lake.


Location

Cow Mountain is 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 ...
, part of the northern
California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...
. It is east of the city of Ukiah and west of the city of Lakeport. It is in
Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
and Mendocino counties. Cow Mountain got its name from longhorn cattle introduced around 1839 by
Salvador Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the trans ...
and later ranched by
Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...
and Andrew Kelsey, which left many rogue cattle roaming the countryside. When settlers arrived in the land around Clear Lake about 1853 they did not want the long horn cattle to breed with their exotic cattle bred for meat production, so began a program of shooting the long horns. Cow Mountain was one of the last refuges for the longhorns, but they had been eliminated by the 1870s by the Hurt family of Scotts Valley.


Terrain

Cow Mountain is a northwest-southeast trending ridge about long that runs parallel to and about west of Cold Creek. Cow Mountain is at least high. It has a
clean prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...
of and an isolation of . The nearest higher mountain is Elk Mountain to the northeast. The southeast-plunging Ukiah-Cow Mountain
Antiform In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is th ...
(UCMA) in the
hanging wall In geology, a fault is a Fracture (geology), planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of Rock (geology), rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust (geology ...
block of the Chicken Springs fault zone. This is a folded and sinuous northeast-dipping intra-Franciscan zone of thrusts that is delineated by a narrow belt of
serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...
dipping northeastward under the UCMA.


Drainage

Five thousand years ago, there was a massive landslide on the southern slope of Cow Mountain that filled the channel from Clear Lake to the Russian River. The lake rose, then cut a new channel through Cache Creek into the Sacramento River. Cow Mountain now holds the upper reaches of the Cache Creek watershed to the east and Russian River watershed to the west. There are many year-round streams, springs, and wildlife ponds. Streams in the North Cow Mountain area include Cold Creek, Howard Creek, Sulphur Creek, Mill Creek, and Scotts Creek. Streams in the South Cow Mountain area include Benmore Creek, Panther Creek, Willow Creek, Lyons Valley Creek, and Morrison Creek. There are many small intermittent streams and meadows. In the winter months heavy rain may cause floods and erosion, but recreational use may be a more important factor in erosion. Closure of roads and banning off-highway vehicles is thought to have significantly reduced erosion in North Cow Mountain. A 1997 analysis of the South Cow Mountain trails identified some that had high potential to contribute sedimentation to Clear Lake. Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) riding in abandoned walnut orchards and creek beds has increased the rate or erosion.


Environment


Climate

Cow Mountain is in the Mediterranean eco-region, with wet winters and dry summers. The coldest average temperatures are . Mean annual precipitation is .


Vegetation

Vegetation is typical of the interior coastal mountain range. The dominant vegetation on the south and west facing slopes is chamise (''
Adenostoma fasciculatum ''Adenostoma fasciculatum'', commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specia ...
''). The more mesic northern exposures and ravines hold mixed
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 ...
and trees such as blue oak (''
Quercus douglasii ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the b ...
''), black oak (''
Quercus kelloggii ''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 ...
''),
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 ...
(''Pseudotsuga menziesii''), California nutmeg (''
Torreya californica ''Torreya californica'' is a species of conifer endemic to California, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is commonly known as California torreya or California nutmeg tree (although not closely relat ...
'') and California bay laurel (''
Umbellularia californica ''Umbellularia californica'' is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests and the Sierra foothills of California, and to coastal forests extending into Oregon. It is the sole species in the genus ''Umbellularia''. The tree's pungent leaves ...
''). A large black oak forest covers the top and north sides of Cow Mountain. There are stands of
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 ...
(''Pinus attenuata'') and foothill gray pine (''
Pinus sabiniana ''Pinus sabiniana'' (sometimes spelled ''P. sabineana'') is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Its vernacular names include towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, ghost pine, and bull pine. The name digger pine was historically ...
'') throughout the area. Non-native invasive species include yellow starthistle (''
Centaurea solstitialis ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding ...
''), medusahead (''
Taeniatherum caput-medusae ''Taeniatherum'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family. The only recognized species is medusahead (''Taeniatherum caput-medusae'') which is native to southern and central Europe (from Portugal to European Russia), N ...
''), Italian thistle (''
Carduus pycnocephalus ''Carduus pycnocephalus'', with common names including Italian thistle, Italian plumeless thistle, and Plymouth thistle, is a species of thistle. It is native to the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia; Easter ...
''), bull thistle (''
Cirsium vulgare ''Cirsium vulgare'', commonly known as spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus ''Cirsium'', native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley ...
''), arundo (''
Arundo donax ''Arundo donax'' is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. ''Arundo'' a ...
''), jubata grass (''
Cortaderia jubata ''Cortaderia jubata'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including purple pampas grass and Andean pampas grass. It is similar to its more widespread relative, the pampas grass '' C. selloana'', but it can get quite a bit taller ...
''), scotch broom (''
Cytisus scoparius ''Cytisus scoparius'' ( syn. ''Sarothamnus scoparius''), the common broom or Scotch broom, is a deciduous leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Great Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom; this name is also used fo ...
'') and Harding grass (''
Phalaris aquatica ''Phalaris aquatica'', known by the common names bulbous canary-grass and Harding grass, is a species of grass in the genus ''Phalaris'' of the family Poaceae. Description It is an erect, waist-high, stout perennial bunch grass, with grayish to ...
''). Prescribed burning of the chaparral on south facing slopes has been used to improve the habitat for deer and other wildlife by giving them access to younger and more protein-rich vegetation. One estimate of the natural fire cycle in 20–40 years, while another is 35–100+ years. In 1981 the Cow Mountain Fire burned about . The headwaters of Scotts Creek on South Cow Mountain were severely burned in 2018 by the
Mendocino Complex Fire The Mendocino Complex Fire was a large complex of wildfires that burned in northern California for more than three months in 2018. It consisted of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, which burned in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, and ...
, which may have increased erosion and the flow of sediments and dissolved nutrients into the Clear Lake. The Lost Valley Meadow in South Cow Mountain is an
Area of Critical Environmental Concern Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act ( ...
(ACEC) with a unique assemblage of native vegetation in the Miner's Ridge watershed of the Russian River Drainage system.


Fauna

Year round resident mammals include Columbian black-tail deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''),
feral pig A feral pig is a domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the g ...
,
western gray squirrel The western gray squirrel (''Sciurus griseus'') is a tree squirrel found along the western coast of the United States and Mexico. In some places, this species has also been known as the silver-gray squirrel, the California gray squirrel, the Ore ...
,
brush rabbit The brush rabbit (''Sylvilagus bachmani''), or western brush rabbit, or Californian brush rabbit, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in western coastal regions of North America, from the Columbia River in Oregon to the southern tip of the ...
,
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
,
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
,
cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
and
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
. The two key game species are black-tail deer and
tule elk The tule elk (''Cervus canadensis nannodes'') is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule (), ...
. Special status species include
Foothill yellow-legged frog The foothill yellow-legged frog (''Rana boylii'') is a small-sized () frog from the genus ''Rana'' in the family Ranidae. This species was historically found in the Coast Ranges from northern Oregon, through California, and into Baja California ...
(''Rana boylii''),
Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...
(''Martes pennati pacifica'') and
Western pond turtle The western pond turtle (''Actinemys marmorata''), also known commonly as the Pacific pond turtle is a species of small to medium-sized turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the western coast of the United States and Mexico, r ...
(''Emys marmorata''). Bird species include
wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...
(''Meleagris gallopavo''),
California quail The California quail (''Callipepla californica''), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. These birds have a curving crest, '' plume'' or topknot made of six fea ...
(''Callipepla californica''),
mourning dove The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove Family (biology), family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, the chueybird, colloquially as the turtle dove, and it was once known a ...
(''Zenaida macroura''),
California thrasher The California thrasher (''Toxostoma redivivum'') is a large member of family Mimidae found primarily in chaparral habitat in California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico. It is the only species of the genus ''Toxostoma'' throu ...
(''Toxostoma redivivum''), several species of
woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...
,
raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
,
scrub jay The passerine birds of the genus ''Aphelocoma'' include the scrub jays and their relatives. They are New World jays found in Mexico, western Central America and the western United States, with an outlying population in Florida. This genus belon ...
(''Aphelocoma''),
turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sou ...
(''Cathartes aura''),
red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...
(''Buteo jamaicensis''),
kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
, and various species of songbirds. Migratory Birds of Conservation Concern are
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
(''Falco peregrinus''),
prairie falcon The prairie falcon (''Falco mexicanus'') is a medium-sized Falconiformes, falcon found in Western North America. A separate species from the peregrine falcon, with which it shares some visual similarities, the prairie falcon is, essentially, an ...
(''Falco mexicanus''),
burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged, primarily terrestrial—though not flightless—species of owl native to the open landscapes of North and South America. They are typically found in gra ...
(''Athene cunicularia''), long-billed curlew (''Numenius americanus''),
rufous hummingbird The rufous hummingbird (''Selasphorus rufus'') is a small hummingbird, about long with a long, straight and slender bill. These birds are known for their extraordinary flight skills, flying during their migratory transits. It is one of nine s ...
(''Selasphorus rufus''),
Lewis's woodpecker Lewis's woodpecker (''Melanerpes lewis'') is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as pa ...
(''Melanerpes lewis''), olive-sided flycatcher (''Contopus borealis'') and
Lawrence's goldfinch Lawrence's goldfinch (''Spinus lawrencei'') is a small songbird of erratic distribution that breeds in California and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Description At about long and weighing abou ...
(''Carduelis lawrencei''). Focal species include
greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along wi ...
(''Geococcyx californianus''),
rufous-crowned sparrow The rufous-crowned sparrow (''Aimophila ruficeps'') is a small American sparrow. This passerine is primarily found across the Southwestern United States and much of the interior of Mexico, south to the transverse mountain range, and to the Pac ...
(''Aimophila ruficeps''),
sage sparrow Sage sparrow was the name of a species of sparrow that has since been reclassified as two species: * Sagebrush sparrow, ''Artemisiospiza nevadensis'' * Bell's sparrow, ''Artemisiospiza belli'' {{Animal common name Birds by common name ...
(''Amphispiza belli''), and
wrentit The wrentit (''Chamaea fasciata'') is a small bird that lives in chaparral, California oak woodland, oak woodlands, and bushland on the western coast of North America. It is the Monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Chamaea''. Its systema ...
(''Chamaea fasciata'').


Human presence

The Cow Mountain Area was probably within the territory controlled by the
Northern Pomo Northern Pomo is a critically endangered Pomoan language, formerly spoken by the indigenous Pomo people in what is now called California. The speakers of Northern Pomo were traditionally those who lived in the northern and largest area of the Po ...
ethnic group. The mountain probably had few residents in both the prehistoric and historic period. The Norris Trail (''Nóboral-Cókadjal'') ran up and over Cow Mountain from Lakeport to Ukiah, and before 1867 was one of the main routes in the area. Most of the known cultural resources in the area are related to historic mining, residential and hunting activities. The Cow Mountain Management Area covers about of public land. It is divided into North and South Cow Mountain. The use of weapons is limited to designated shooting areas except when hunting. The recreational area is half in Lake County and half in Mendocino County. The North Cow Mountain Recreation Area covers about of public land that is managed for non-motorized use. Vehicles must stay on designated routes and trails: off-highway vehicle use is not permitted. There are nearly of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. Camping is allowed throughout the area, but no nearer than to any water source. There are two campgrounds, Mayacamas with six sites and Goat Rock with two sites. Goat Rock is only accessible by hiking or horseback. Hunting is also allowed. South Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area covers about of public land managed for off-highway vehicle use. Vehicle use is limited to of designated roads and trails. The area is closed during periods of precipitation, which usually occur in November. It typically opens after 72 hours with no precipitation. South Cow Mountain is closed to the general public for an annual motorcycle rally. Apart from erosion on the trails in South Cow Mountain, problems include vandalism, rowdiness at night, irresponsible shooters who damage signs and trees and litter the ground with shotgun shells, illegal dumping and tire burning.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT: Mountains of Lake County, California