The Mokelumne Wilderness is a federally designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

located east of

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. It is within the boundaries of three national forests: Stanislaus,

Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or kin ...

and Toiyabe. First protected under the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lo ...

of 1964, the Mokelumne's borders were expanded under the

California Wilderness Act of 1984 The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation ...

with the addition of 55,000 acres. The wilderness takes its name from the

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley and ul ...

, which was named after a Mi-wok Indian village located on the riverbank in California's Central Valley. The wilderness encompasses an area of 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 ...

mountain range between

Ebbetts Pass Ebbetts Pass (el. ), named after John Ebbetts, is a high mountain pass through the Sierra Nevada range in Alpine County, California. Ebbetts is the eastern of two passes in the area traversed by State Route 4. The western pass is the Pacific Grade ...

Carson Pass Carson Pass is a mountain pass on the crest of the central Sierra Nevada, in the Eldorado National Forest and Alpine County, eastern California. The pass is traversed by California State Route 88. It lies on the Great Basin Divide, with the We ...

. There are two sections separated by the Blue Lakes Road and an

Off-Road Vehicle An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with d ...

corridor. Elevations range from to . The highest point is Round Top (10,364 feet), a remnant

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

from which the wilderness area's volcanic soils are derived.

Landscape, flora and fauna

The west slopes have been eroded by

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate bet ...

and water down to the granite

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...

which has created a dramatic contrast between the volcanic and the granitic landscapes. The wilderness protects habitat for a great variety of plants and animals especially on the slopes of Round Top, which is designated a special interest area. Plants include Ponderosa pine, canyon live oak as well as alpine vegetation of

Whitebark pine ''Pinus albicaulis'', known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine ...

, subalpine fir, and western juniper, with

western white pine Western white pine (''Pinus monticola''), also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America. It is the state tree of Idaho. Descriptio ...

mountain hemlock ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...

, and lodgepole pine found in sheltered areas. Waterways such as the North Fork of the Mokelumne River have riparian zones of white and mountain alder, creek dogwood, western azalea and bitter cherry. Wildlife include the black bear and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, as well as martin, bald eagle and the California

spotted owl The spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis'') is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between high and ...

Areas of special interest

The Round Top Botanical Area is at the junction of three botanical provinces and includes red fir forest, sagebrush scrub, subalpine and alpine environments. The combination of soil types, varying exposure and elevations produce diverse plant life, such as the phantom orchid (''

Cephalanthera austiniae ''Cephalanthera austiniae'' is a species of orchid known as the phantom orchid and snow orchid because the entire plant is white except for a few yellow markings on the flowers. The orchid is native to the western United States (California, Oreg ...

''), a rare parasitic plant. The plant's common name is due to its color being all or mostly white. The Round Top Geologic Area has more than within the wilderness and encompasses a variety of geological areas, including exposed

granodiorite Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...

, lava flows, dikes, glacial

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice sh ...

s and

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...

s. The landform known as Elephants Back is a rounded mass of solidified lava. Mineralization produced gold-bearing quartz veins, and relics of past gold mining activities are still present in the area.

Mountain Peaks

There are several mountains in the wilderness including these named peaks: # Round Top (10,381 ft) # The Sisters (10,153 ft and 10,045 ft) #

Raymond Peak Raymond Peak is a 10,014-foot-elevation (3,052 meter) mountain summit located in Alpine County, California, Alpine County, California, United States. Description Raymond Peak is set north of Ebbetts Pass in the Mokelumne Wilderness, on la ...

(10,014 ft) # Deadwood Peak (9,846 ft) # Melissa Coray Peak (9,763 ft) #

Reynolds Peak Reynolds Peak () is a prominent peak (785 m) rising 6 nautical miles (11 km) northwest of Eld Peak on the west side of Matusevich Glacier. Two conical peaks were sighted in the area from the Peacock on January 16, 1840, by Passed Midshipmen ...

(9,679 ft) # Little Round Top (9,590 ft) #

Elephants Back Elephants Back is a 9,585-foot-elevation (2,922 meter) mountain summit located in Alpine County, California, United States. Description This landmark of Hope Valley is set in the Mokelumne Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Th ...

(9,585 ft) # Fourth of July Peak (9,537 ft) # Markleeville Peak (9,415 ft) #

Mokelumne Peak Mokelumne Peak is a peak in the Mokelumne Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, consisting of metamorphic and granitic rock. Geology Mokelumne Peak has the largest body of metamorphic rock in the region, called the Mokelumne Pea ...

(9,334 ft) # Jeff Davis Peak (9,065 ft) # Black Butte (9,013 ft) # Thornburg Peak (8,636 ft) This is not a complete list and only includes non-numbered named peaks above 8,600 ft elevation in the wilderness.

Recreation

The Mokelumne Wilderness has a variety of recreational opportunities all year. With landscapes ranging from deep canyons to alpine heights and more than two hundred ice-scoured lakes and

tarns A tarn (or corrie loch) is a proglacial mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. Etymology The word is derived from the Old Norse word ''tjörn'' ("a small moun ...

, fishing and hiking are popular activities as well as cross country skiing. Access is from roads surrounding the wilderness boundary with Carson Pass being the most used entry point. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

, the

Tahoe–Yosemite Trail The Tahoe–Yosemite Trail (TYT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. The trail courses from Meeks Bay at Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The trail is a foot and equestrian path tha ...

and the Emigrant Summit Trail all cross through the Mokelumne Wilderness. The Emigrant Summit Trail is a designated National Recreation and Historic Trail that follows the western boundary and then passes through the wilderness from Emigrant Valley to

Caples Lake Caples lake is a reservoir that is located near Kirkwood, California along highway 88 (also called Carson pass). The lake was used as a halting place for wagon travelers who were trekking the historic Mormon Emigrant trail during the Gold Rush. ...

. Wilderness permits are required year-round for overnight visits.

Footnotes

References

Eldorado National Forest Interpretive Association website.
accessed July 30, 2009 Adkinson, Ron ''Wild Northern California''. The Globe Pequot Press, 2001

External links

*
Eldorado National Forest: Mokelumne Wilderness webpage

Stanislaus National Forest: Mokelumne Wilderness webpage

Wilderness.net: Mokelumne Wilderness webpage
{{Authority control Wilderness areas of California Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Eldorado National Forest Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest Stanislaus National Forest Protected areas of Alpine County, California Protected areas of Amador County, California Protected areas of Calaveras County, California Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in California IUCN Category Ib