The Mendocino Range is one of several coastal mountain ranges which compose the
Pacific Coast Range.
This massive range of coastal mountains was formed during a period of coastal
orogeny
Orogeny () is a mountain-mountain formation, building process that takes place at a convergent boundary, convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An or develops as the compressed plate crumples and is tectonic uplift, u ...
, millions of years ago. The Mendocino Range is a component of the
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 ...
of California. The
Klamath Range is north of this region, and the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
runs to the northeast.

The Mendocino Range rises from the
California North Coast
The North Coast of California (also called the Redwood Empire or the Redwood Coast in reference to the dense redwood forests throughout the region) is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and th ...
in southern
Humboldt County, to include Bear Mountain, Rainbow Ridge and Gypsy Mountain of the Mattole Range, and Grasshopper Peak, which is the dominant mountain within
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous old-growth forest of coast redwoods. It is located south of Eureka, California, near Weott in ...
. This area is extremely beautiful, with huge stands of giant old growth, including the
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 ...
,
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
grand fir
''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to northwestern North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to . It is a major constituent of t ...
. The
Avenue of the Giants
The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic highway in northern California, United States, running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is named for the coast redwoods that tower over the route. The road is a former alignment of U.S. Route 101 ...
is a particularly scenic route, providing for car touring of the redwood forest. The Mendocino Range continues south into
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 ...
, to include a mountainous region to the east including the
Mendocino National Forest
The Mendocino National Forest is located in the California Coast Ranges#Northern Coast Ranges, Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern California and comprises . It is the only national forest in the state of California without a major paved road ...
and
Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness
The Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Yolla Bolly Range of the southern Klamath Mountains and the Inner Northern California Coast Ranges, in Northern California.
Geography
The wilderness area i ...
along the
Middle Eel. Westward, nearer the coast, the Mendocino Range can best be seen by following
Highway 1. Scenic vistas include Gilham Butte, the Chemise and Red Mountains along the South Fork of the
Eel River, and Cahto Peak, near Leggett. These mountains form a rugged terrain that includes Rattlesnake Pass and other mountains along
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 ...
. This mountainous terrain continues south to include Jackson State Forest and the
Big River watershed, near
Ft. Bragg and
Mendocino, with elevations from sea level to 1710 feet, and the area around Ukiah, to include English Ridge, the Sanhedrin Mountains, the
Snow Mountain Wilderness
The Snow Mountain Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located north of Santa Rosa, California, USA in the Mendocino National Forest. The U.S. Congress passed the California Wilderness Act of 1984 which created 23 new wildernes ...
, and Cache Creek. Further south, these mountains gradually become smaller and less rugged, transforming themselves into 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 ...
, the Sonoma foothills, and the wine country of the
Russian River.
The Mendocino Range is home to a wide variety of interesting plant and animal species, including elk,
black bear,
coho COHO, short for Coherent Oscillator, is a technique used with radar systems based on the cavity magnetron to allow them to implement a moving target indicator display. Because the signals are only coherent when received, not transmitted, the concept ...
and
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...
,
steelhead
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...
,
coastal cutthroat trout
The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'', sometimes referred as ''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the four speciesTrotter, Patrick; Bisson, Pete ...
,
marbled murrelet
The marbled murrelet (''Brachyramphus marmoratus'') is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the family Alcidae, which includes auklets, guillemots, murres and puffins. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at hig ...
,
northern spotted owl
The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific N ...
,
bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
, and large communities of
sword fern and other unique rainforest species. It contains several large protected forested areas, and is a large part of our national treasure of natural resources.
References
Further reading
* {{cite journal, title=Late Neogene and Quaternary landscape evolution of the northern California Coast Ranges: Evidence for Mendocino triple junction tectonics , author1-first=Jane, author1-last=Lock, author2-first=Harvey, author2-last=Kelsey, author3-first=Kevin, author3-last=Furlong, author4-first=Adam, author4-last=Woolace, journal=GSA Bulletin, year=2006, volume=118, issue=9–10, pages=1232–1246, doi=10.1130/B25885.1, url=https://geology.humboldt.edu/documents/kelsey/Locketal_GSAB.pdf
California Coast Ranges
Mountain ranges of Northern California
Mountain ranges of Humboldt County, California
Mountain ranges of Mendocino County, California