Snow Mountain
Map SatelliteSnow Mountain, which is comprised of three adjacent peaks above 760 meters (2,500 feet), is the southernmost peak in the North Coast Ranges. It is a unique high-altitude ecological island, with diverse habitats and numerous terminal, disjunct or relict populations of plants and animals.
Among the plant communities found on the mountain are Douglas fir and yellow pine forests, open alpine marsh, alpine meadow, vernal pool, chaparral and riparian. On the mountain is the southernmost stand in the Coast Ranges of the red fir, Abies magnifica. The mountain alder, Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia, and the uncommon Cycladenia humilis are also at their southern limits here. Argemone munita ssp. rotundata, which occurs mainly on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, is found here. Among the rare plants reported in the area are Asclepias solanoana, Epilobium nivium, Eriastrum brandegeae, and Hesperolinon adenophyllum.
There is a grove of mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus ledifolius, a disjunct also known from Saint Johns Mountain, where one specimen has a circumference of 6 meters (20 feet). This is probably a record.
Other noteworthy plants growing here include the localized Raillardiopsis scabrida, Penstemon purpusii, and Claytonia saxosa. This is the type locality of the latter. The uncommon Orobanche pinorum, which is near its southern limit in the Coast Ranges, occurs here.
In the meadows and more open areas there are excellent displays of numerous wildflowers during the blooming season.
Zoologically, the mountain hosts the terminal populations of a number of Canadian zone birds and mammals in the North Coast Ranges. Thus the white-headed woodpecker, Dendrocopos albolarvatus, breeds here and in the Sierra and the higher Southern California mountains but is not found in the Coast Ranges to the south. Here are the southernmost extensions in the Range of the water shrew, Sorex palustris, golden-mantled ground squirrel, Citellus lateralis, and the northern flying squirrel, Glaucomys sabrinus. There is a large population of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdnerii irideus, in Stony Creek.
There is evidence of Pleistocene glacial activity at the head of Dark Hollow Creek. Stony Creek has cut a deep, rugged gorge studded with pinnacles. There are serpentine outcrops on the mountain.
Integrity: In the lower reaches there has been logging, and off-road vehicles have caused some damage. Portions have been grazed, some heavily. There are Forest Service roads and trails in the area. Bills have been introduced in Congress to declare the mountain a Wilderness Area.
Use: Research, educational, observational, light recreation.
Ref: Hemphill, Donald V. 1962. The Vertebrate Fauna of the Boreal Areas of the Southern Yolla Bolly Mountains, California. Unpub. Ph.D. Thesis, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. pp. 1-340.
September 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
