The Siskiyou Wilderness is a federal

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

designated by the passage of 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 ...

. Originally, the land area was The Northern California Wild Heritage Act of 2006 added for the current total of . All of the wilderness is in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

and is managed by the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. The wilderness spans three national forests: the Rogue River–Siskiyou, the

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

, and the Six Rivers. The

Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a Coast Ranges, coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, Calif ...

form one of the longest continuous crests in 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 ...

region. Elevations range from to the summit of Preston Peak at above sea level. Trending in a north–south direction from the Oregon border down to near the town of Weitchpec and inland from the Pacific Ocean, the Siskiyous are dotted by rocky peaks rising over from the surrounding lowlands.

Flora and fauna

The Siskiyou Wilderness contains a diverse collection of conifer species including rarities such as

Alaska cedar ''Callitropsis nootkatensis'', formerly known as ''Cupressus nootkatensis'' ( syn. ''Xanthocyparis nootkatensis, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis''), is a species of tree in the cypress family native to the coastal regions of northwestern North America ...

Port Orford cedar ''Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'', known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson's cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus ''Chamaecyparis'', family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to in the ...

, and the Klamath Mountains-

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 ...

Brewer spruce. It is notable for the vast amounts of old-growth forests and many endemic species of wildflowers, shrubs and trees, as well as one of the world's largest concentrations of lilies. The wilderness is home to several rare species, including

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...

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 ...

and Roosevelt

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

. There is also

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

, black-tailed deer, and many varieties of birds. The clear streams provide spawning grounds for

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 ...

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 ...

Recreation

The

Clear Creek National Recreation Trail Clear may refer to: * Transparency, the physical property of allowing light to pass through Arts and entertainment Music Groups * Clear (Christian band), an American CCM group from Cambridge, Minnesota * Clear (hardcore band), a vegan straight e ...

crosses of the northern portion and provides access to some of the more scenic parts of the wilderness—from near the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk language, Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath language, Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok language, Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') is a long river in southern Oregon and northern California. Beginning near Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klama ...

to the

Smith River (California) The Smith River ( Tolowa: ) flows from the Klamath Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in Del Norte County in extreme northwestern California, on the West Coast of the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

divide. In the southern part of the wilderness, the

Kelsey National Recreation Trail Kelsey may refer to: Places Canada * Kelsey, Alberta * Kelsey, Manitoba * Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba (unconnected with Kelsey, Manitoba) * Kelsey Airport, Manitoba * SIAST Kelsey Campus, one of four campuses of the Saskatchewan Insti ...

begins at Bear Lake, and the experienced hiker can walk for about to the Smith River. The most heavily visited areas are in the northwest corner of the region—concentrated on trails that lead to lakes. Much of the area lacks trails and is difficult to access cross-country because of the dense brush. The

Bigfoot Trail The Bigfoot Trail is an unofficial U.S. long-distance hiking trail in northern California. The Bigfoot Trail was originally proposed by Michael Kauffmann in 2009 as a suggested route to navigate the Klamath Mountains from south to north as well ...

traverses the crest of the wilderness from north to south, through some of the most remote areas.

Climate

Footnotes

References

External links