The Scott Mountains are a subrange of the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

located in

Siskiyou County Siskiyou County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It falls within the Casca ...

, in northwestern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. A high point is Scott Mountain Summit, a mountain gap-pass at in elevation.

Geography

The Scott Mountains are a sub-range within the Klamath Mountains System. The Klamath system are of the

Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States; ; ) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Althoug ...

series of mountain range systems that stretch along the West Coast of North America. The Scott Mountains run from southern

southeast into northern Trinity County.

California State Route 3 State Route 3 (SR 3) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves Trinity and Siskiyou counties. It runs from SR 36 north along the shore of Trinity Lake, Fort Jones and Etna. The route then approaches Yreka, intersecting w ...

passes through the range. The Scott Mountains are located approximately west of the towns of Mt. Shasta and Dunsmuir that are on

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

Recreation

The range is within sections of the

Klamath National Forest Klamath National Forest is a United States National Forest, national forest, in the Klamath Mountains and Cascade Range, located in Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou County in northern California, but with a tiny extension (1.5 percent of th ...

and Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Scott Mountain Campground, is at the Scott Mountain summit in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest section. It is located on the summit's west side at the junction of 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 ...

and California State Route 3.Shasta-Trinity National Forest - Scott Mountain Campground
. accessed 1.06.2012 Phaceliadalesiana

Ecology

;Ecoregion The Scott Mountains are within the Klamath-Siskiyou forests — Klamath Mountains

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

, which is part of the

Temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion, terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant ...

Biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. ;Flora The wildflower Scott Mountain phacelia (''

Phacelia dalesiana ''Phacelia dalesiana'' is a species of flowering plants in the borage family endemic to California. It is commonly known as Scott Mountain phacelia or Howell's phacelia. Under the synonym ''Howellanthus dalesianus'', it was considered to be the on ...

'') is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to a small area of Scott Mountain.

Plant communities A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

in the range include: *

California mixed evergreen forest : California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon. The Mixed evergreen forest plant community is native to the Northern and Southern California Coast Ranges and Sierra Ne ...

Cedar hemlock douglas-fir forest Cedar hemlock douglas-fir forest is a vegetation association in California, United States. This is one of the Kuchler system forest types used to classify California plant communities. As the name implies, dominant tree types are Incense cedar, ...

Geography

Recreation

Ecology

References

See also