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Map Satellite Approximately a third of the area is covered by sagebrush or grasses, with a negligible amount of barren area; the remaining portion is in an unusually pure forest of bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva. These stands are composed of both living and dead trees. There is a band of dead and dying trees primarily above the present stands. As the dead trees decompose slowly, over periods of hundreds, even thousands, of years, the band may represent a post-glacial recession from a "fossil" timberline. Elsewhere in the stands, there is good reproduction.
Deer, Odocoileus hemionus, occur here during the summer months, and bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis. are occasionally observed in the area.
Soils are thin and sparse, and the parent dolomitic rocks are exposed.
This area is adjacent to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Botanical Area.
Integrity: Designated a Natural Area in 1953. Use: Research, educational, observational.
March 1980
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
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