|
Map Satellite Flanked to the north and south by the San Jacinto Wilderness, this park is the heart of the extensive wilderness area in the San Jacinto Mountains. Mount San Jacinto itself lies within the park. The eastern and northeastern boundary of the mountain is marked by one of the largest and steepest fault scarps and mountain fronts in the country. In a distance of 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the floor of the Coachella Valley to the summit of Mount San Jacinto the elevation changes 3,080 meters (10,100 feet); in portions, the change in elevation is more than 1,825 meters (6,000 feet) in 3 kilometers (2 miles). The escarpment supports an excellent example of community zonation with altitude, ranging from creosote bush scrub and desert-wash vegetation, in the lower portion, to arctic-alpine vegetation on the summits of the higher peaks above the timber line. Much of the area supports a mixed conifer forest with Coulter, Jeffrey, ponderosa and sugar pines, Pinus coulteri, Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus ponderosa and Pinus lambertiana, incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens, white fir, Abies concolor, and the uncommon big-cone Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga macrocarpa. At the higher elevations are lodgepole and limber pines, Pinus murrayana and Pinus flexilis. Wet montane meadow habitats are found in the area, as is montane chaparral, the latter with such species as Ceanothus palmeri, Arctostaphylos pungens and Arctostaphylos pringlei. Two rare plants, Arabis johnstonii and Leptodactylon jaegeri, occur in the park. Animal life is abundant and diverse. The rare bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis, is found within the park upon occasion, as is the rare southern rubber boa, Charina bottae umbratica. Mountain lions, Felis concolor, inhabit the area. The area is composed of granitics of the Southern California batholith and date to the Mesozoic era. On the highest peaks some glacial activity may have taken place during the Pleistocene, but the supposed glacial deposits are scant and poorly formed. Integrity: Though much of the area is wilderness, there are ranger stations, trails, campsites and one drive-in campsite. The upper terminal of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is located in the northeastern section of the park. The area receives considerable use. Use: Research, educational, observational, light recreational. Ref: Hall, H. M. 1902. A Botanical Survey of the San Jacinto Mountains of California. Univ. of Calif. Pubs. Bot. 1, pp. 1 - 140. August 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
|
