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Map Satellite Included in this area is the stretch of river between Giant Gap and Euchre Bar, one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers in the lower portions of the central Sierra. The canyon is deep, 500 meters (1,600 feet), and by Giant Gap has an almost vertical wall.
In Green Valley several communities are found: chaparral on the south-facing slopes, yellow pine forest on the north-facing, some meadow and riparian.
In the chaparral, whiteleaf manzanita, Arctostaphylos viscida, toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, buckthorn, Rhamnus californica, and silk-tassel bush, Garrya congdonii, are conspicuous.
Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, is the dominant in the pine forest, which also has some Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii. In the meadows there is an abundance of Western azalea, Rhododendron occidentale, and some stream orchis, Epipactis gigantea, as well as several species of lilies.
Due to the relative inaccessibility there is an abundance of animal life. Green Valley is part of the winter range of the Blue Canyon deer herd. There appears to be an unusually large population of the Western rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis.
Much of the canyon is cut through Paleozoic marine sedimentary rock which antedates the Sierra batholith; however, there is an intrusion of Mesozoic ultrabasic, primarily serpentinized. The latter is bordered on the east by the Melones Fault.
Integrity: There are remains of the mining camp of Green Valley which during the gold rush had a population of some 2,000, and there are other ruins in the area. Some of the area was logged in the 19th century. There is some rafting on the river and there are trails into the area.
Use: Research, educational, observational, light recreation.
August 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
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