Mount Burnham is one of the highest peaks in the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

. It is in the Sheep Mountain Wilderness. It is named for

Frederick Russell Burnham Major (rank), Major Frederick Russell Burnham Distinguished Service Order, DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to t ...

the famous American military scout who taught

Scoutcraft Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and k ...

(then known as ''woodcraft'') to Robert Baden-Powell and became one of the inspirations for the founding of the Boy Scouts. Mount Burnham was officially recognized by the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

at a dedication ceremony in 1951. It was original known as (West Twin) "North Baldy Mountain". The peak is within Los Angeles County, about north of Glendora, and from Los Angeles. In 1956, Mount Burnham was added to the list of Signature Summits by the Hundred Peaks Section of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

Background

The long Silver Moccasin Trail, a Boy Scout trail, connects the mountain with Mount Baden-Powell, Throop Peak and Mount Hawkins. 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 ...

follows the same route in this area. Most of the forest on Mount Burnham and along the trail consist of plants native to the region. The peak is covered by limber pine (''Pinus flexilis''), lodgepole (''P. contorta''),

sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest Conifer cone, cones of any conifer. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coa ...

(''P. lambertiana''), and

Jeffrey pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

(''P. jeffreyi''). Other plants of note include '' Holodiscus microphyllus'', '' Monardella cinerea'', ''

Eriogonum umbellatum ''Eriogonum umbellatum'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. Description It is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different ...

'', ''Oreonana vestita'', '' Cycladenia humilis'', and the rare, local yellow-flowered Peirson's lupine (''Lupinus peirsonii''). The area is occasionally visited by

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

and a rare

mountain lion 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 ...

. Rocks in the area range in age from Pre-Cambrian (probable) igneous and metamorphics to Pre-Cretaceous metamorphics. The Vincent Thrust Fault, the oldest major fault in the range, dating to the Mesozoic, passes through the area.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnham, Mount Mountains of Los Angeles County, California San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Angeles National Forest Scouting in the United States Scouting monuments and memorials Mountains of Southern California