The Avawatz Mountains are located in

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...

, in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

Name

There are several theories for the origin of the name Avawatz. It could be derived from the Mohave Indian term "Avi-Ahwat", or "red rock". Alternatively, the name comes from the

Southern Paiute The Southern Paiute people are a tribe of Native Americans who have lived in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Utah. Bands of Southern Paiute live in scattered locations throughout this territory and ha ...

word ''iva-wätz'', meaning "white mountain sheep," or another Southern Paiute word, ''ávawatz'', meaning "

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

Geography

The range lies to the west of State Route 127; between the

Owlshead Mountains The Owlshead Mountains are located at the southern end of Death Valley National Park near the border of the Fort Irwin Military Reservation in San Bernardino County, California, US. Geography The range lies in the Mojave Desert, north of the Gra ...

in the southern end of

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

, and the

Soda Mountains The Soda Mountains are located in the eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, USA. The range lies to the north of Interstate 15 west of the town of Baker. Geography The range reaches an elevation of at the western end of the r ...

near the town of

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

. The range is at the intersection of the

Garlock Fault The Garlock Fault is a left-lateral strike-slip fault running northeast–southwest along the north margins of the Mojave Desert of Southern California, for much of its length along the southern base of the Tehachapi Mountains. Geography Stretc ...

and the

Death Valley Fault Zone The Death Valley Fault Zone (DVFZ) is a right lateral-moving (dextral) geologic fault in eastern California. It runs from a connection with the Furnace Creek Fault Zone in the Amargosa Valley southward to a junction with the Garlock Fault. It is c ...

. As such, it is considered the southern end of the

Walker Lane The Walker Lane is a geologic trough roughly aligned with the California/Nevada border southward to where Death Valley intersects the Garlock Fault, a major left lateral, or sinistral, strike-slip fault. The north-northwest end of the Walker L ...

geologic trough. Part of the Avawatz Mountain range lies in the National Training Center, which is part of the

Fort Irwin Military Reservation Fort Irwin National Training Center (Fort Irwin NTC) is a major training area for the United States military in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin is at an average elevation of . It is located northeast o ...

, and is closed to the public. The Avawatz Mountains reach an elevation of .

References

*California Road and Recreation Atlas, 2005, pg 96 {{Authority control

Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

Mountain ranges of San Bernardino County, California Mountain ranges of Southern California