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Map Satellite Approximately three-quarters of this wilderness is covered by chaparral. Though proportions vary, the components include chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum, black sage, Salvia mellifera, Arctostaphylos spp., Ceanothus spp., scrub oak, Quercus berberidifolia, interior live oak, Quercus wislizenii, and Yucca whipplei. In the higher elevations the cover is a mixed conifer forest with Jeffrey and sugar pine, Pinus jeffreyi and Pinus lambertiana, big-cone Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, white fir, Abies concolor, and incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens. (See Waterman Mountain) Along the streams, several of which are perennial, there is a riparian association which, in the lower elevations, includes sycamore, Platanus racemosa, cottonwood, Populus fremontii, and willow, Salix spp. In the higher elevations the white alder, AInus rhombifolia, is the dominant. Canyon oak, Quercus chrysolepis, grades into this association. Animals are typical and abundant. Of note are the desert bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, which are occasionally sighted in the area. Much of the area is underlain by Permian-Triassic granitic rocks, though there are Pre-Cambrian gneisses in a portion of the southwest corner. The San Gabriel Fault traverses the area near the southern border. Integrity: The area is virtually undisturbed by man. The last major fire, which burned about half of the area, was in 1957. Use: Research, educational, observational, present. December 1979
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2008 Steven Louis Hartman
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