Mitchell Caverns
State ReserveMap Satellite
While this reserve was created primarily for the caverns in the area, it contains other interesting features. Approximately half of the area is a modified Joshua tree woodland covering the lower rocky slopes. Species include Yucca brevifolia, Yucca baccata and Yucca schidigera. Eleven Cactaceae have been identified in the area, including six species of Opuntia. It is interesting to note that seven species of ferns (Pteridaceae) have been observed within the reserve.
The higher elevations are pinyon woodlands, with the pinyon, Pinus monophylla, the dominant species. Well over 200 species of plants have been collected in the area. Of note is the disjunct population of the canyon live oak, Quercus chrysolepis, and the scrub oak, Quercus sp. Two rare plants, Penstemon stephensii and Ayenia compacta, are found in the reserve.
There is a variety of animal life, including an occasional bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis. This is one of the two known California sites of the regal ringneck snake, Diadophis punctatus regalis. Fossil remains of the late Pleistocene ground sloth, Nothrotherium sp., have been found in the caverns.
There are several caverns in the reserve; two, El Pakiva and Tecopa, are open to the public; Winding Stair is open only to experienced speleologists. The caverns developed in the lower portion of a thick sequence of marine limestones dating to the Permian. This limestone is in fault contact with an older, possibly Pre-Cambrian greenish granite. The area (see Providence Mountains) was faulted and folded most severely after the Triassic and before Miocene times.
The alignment of the caves in the limestone beds suggests that they are all remnants of an early, single, long cave formed in the thickest and most soluble beds. They appear to have been formed below the water table when ground water saturated the rocks to a level at least as high as the caves. During the Pliocene the area had considerably more rainfall than at present. This water, filtering through humus, became slightly acidic, with a weak solution of carbonic acid, which etched out the caverns. In time, erosion of surrounding areas allowed the ground water to fall. With the fall of the ground water, various dripwater features were formed, such as stalactites, stalagmites, drip curtains and veneer. Today, with the arid climate, no further development is taking place.
Integrity: Two caverns have been equipped with rails, stairs, etc. There are campsites and some trails in the area, as well as several roads.
Use: Research, educational, observational, light recreation.
Ref: Emery, K. O. and W. H. Easton. 1951. Mitchell's Caverns, California. So. Calif. Acad. Sci. Bull. No. 50, pp. 1 - 13.
December 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman