The Fish Lake Valley is a longNevada, DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, c 2010, p. 58-59.

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

in southwest

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, one of many contiguous inward-draining basins collectively called the Great Basin. The

alluvial valley Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

lies just northwest of

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North Am ...

and borders the southeast, and central-northeast flank of the

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

of the White Mountains of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. The southwestern portion of the valley lies in

, with the southern tip at the edge of

Inyo County Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

east of the Chocolate Mountains, and a significant portion of the south end of the valley floor including the ranching community of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

. The valley is sparsely populated, primarily with

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most oft ...

ers and indigenous

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pa ...

. The valley's Post Office and commercial services are located in the town of Dyer.

Description

Fish Lake Valley is a slightly southwest-northeast trending valley, in its northern and central section. It borders the White Mountains on the southwest and receives water from Cottonwood Creek and other small, permanent mountain streams. The extension of the mountains southeasterly provides a feeder valley with some small dry lakes and salt pans. The major section of the valley contains a

borax Borax is a salt (chemistry), salt (ionic compound), a hydration (chemistry), hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a base (chemistry), basic aqueo ...

mixed salt pan for 10 mi of the valley. State Historical Marker No. 133. A small

dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...

is in the center, approximately 1.5 mi long. It is fed from the White Mountains, and the small subvalley southeastwards.

Alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

s are west of the dry lake, with

Nevada State Route 264 State Route 264 (SR 264) is a state highway in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. It connects California State Route 266 to U.S. Route 6 (US 6) via the town of Dyer, Nevada. The majority of the route is known as Fish Lake Valley Road, ...

in the hills to the northwest that also feed southeast and eastwards. To the east and southeast, the

Silver Peak Range The Silver Peak Range is a mountain range in southwest Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. Geography The Range forms the east and southeast side of Fish Lake Valley The Fish Lake Valley is a longNevada, DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, c 2010, ...

borders the valley with no alluvial fans, and is the smaller massif probably block faulted from the White Mountains, and thru

block fault Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...

ing creating the smaller feeder valley on the White Mountains' southeast, (the

Furnace Creek Fault Zone The Furnace Creek Fault Zone (FCFZ) is a geological fault that is located in Eastern California and southwestern Nevada. The right lateral-moving (dextral) fault extends for some between a connection with the Death Valley Fault Zone in the Amargo ...

). The center-north of the valley has very narrow fans, and broken salt flats, that end at the valley's central dry lake. Lower elevation hills and peaks at the north of the Silver Peak Range are the east and northeast border.

Coaldale, Nevada Coaldale is a former mining town and true ghost town in Esmeralda County, Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, ...

on east-west

U.S. Route 6 in Nevada U.S. Route 6 (US 6) is a transcontinental highway in the United States, stretching from Bishop, California, in the west to Provincetown, Massachusetts, on the east coast. The Nevada portion crosses the center of the state, serving the cities of ...

is located at the northern border of the Fish Lake Valley.

Route access

enters the valley's center west at the foothills of the White Mountains and at Dyer turns southeast at the feeder valley and foothills of the mountains; its terminus point is

Oasis, Mono County, California Oasis is an unincorporated community in Mono County, California. It is located in Fish Lake Valley east-southeast of Mount Bancroft. Oasis is at the junction of California State Route 266 State Route 266 (SR 266) is a state highw ...

Nevada State Route 773 State Route 773 (SR 773) is a state highway in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. Known as Fish Lake Valley Road, the highway was a part of former SR 3A. Route description SR 773 begins at a junction with State Route 264 north of Fis ...

intercepts Route 264 in the hills on the Fish Lake Valley northwest border.

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...

at Coaldale, Nevada is in the hills adjacent the valley's north border.

References

External links

Fish Lake & Fish Lake Marsh
Fish Lake Marsh, Esmeralda County
---- Map
High Res Map only: valley, Silver Peak Range & White Mtns/flank
{{Great Basin watersheds, state=collapsed Nevada historical markers Valleys of California Valleys of Nevada Valleys of Esmeralda County, Nevada Valleys of the Mojave Desert Valleys of Inyo County, California White Mountains (California)

Description

Route access

See also

References

External links