The Southern Oregon Coast Range is the southernmost section of the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south runni ...

, in the

Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

, located in the southwest portion of the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, roughly between the

Umpqua River The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

and the middle fork of the Coquille River, beyond which are the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

. To the east is the

Umpqua Valley The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

and to the west the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. This approximately -long mountain range contains mountains as high as for Bone Mountain. The mountains are known locally in the Roseburg area as the Callahan Mountains, or simply as The Callahans.

Geology

As with the Oregon Coast Range as a whole, the Southern Oregon Coast Range likely began as an ocean island chain that collided with the continental

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

more than 60 million years ago.Orr, Elizabeth and William Orr, and Ewart Baldwin. Geology of Oregon. Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1992, 4th edition. In the Southern Range the 64-million-year-old Roseburg Volcanics that formed this section are the oldest portions of the entire range. The range is part of a

forearc basin Forearc is a plate tectonic term referring to a region between an oceanic trench, also known as a subduction zone, and the associated volcanic arc. Forearc regions are present along a convergent margins and eponymously form 'in front of' the vol ...

that has slowly rotated about 51 degrees since the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

period. Much of the mountain structures are

pillow basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

formations created during the volcanic period and then uplifted with the collision into the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...

. Other geologic features are mainly the result of

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and weather forces carving steam beds and valleys out of the rock formations.

Flora and fauna

The Oregon Coast Range is home to over 50 mammals, 100 species of birds, and nearly 30 reptiles or amphibians that spent a significant portion of their life cycle in the mountains. Field Guide to the Forested Plant Associations of the Northern Oregon Coast Range: Wildlife Habitat Relationships for the Coast Guide.
(PDF) ECOSHARE. Retrieved on June 26, 2007. Birds living in the Southern Coast Range include a variety of smaller and larger bird species. These include northern goshawks,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

pileated woodpecker The pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the ...

s, olive-sided flycatcher, and western bluebirds.Notice of intent, to conduct scoping meetings. Federal Register: May 9, 2005, pages 24450-24452. (Volume 70, Number 88).
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved on June 26, 2007. The

northern spotted owl The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific No ...

, listed as a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

by the United States also inhabit the mountain forests.Carey, Andrew B., Janice A. Reid, and Scott P. Horton
Spotted Owl Home Range and Habitat use in Southern Oregon Coast Range. Journal of Wildlife Management. 54(1):11-17.
(PDF) U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on June 26, 2007. Aquatic life includes river

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

, Pacific lamprey,

coastal cutthroat trout The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the several subspecies of cutthroat trout found in Western North America. The coastal cutthroa ...

, Millicoma longnose dace, Umpqua chub, red-legged frogs, southern seep salamander, western pond turtles,

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...

, Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and others. Other wildlife includes fringed myotis bats, long-legged myotis bats, Townsend's big-eared bat,

fishers Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

, and sharptail snakes, northern flying squirrels, red tree voles, Roosevelt elk, among others. Other small animals include shrews, moles, deer mice, and ermine.Aubry, Keith B., Mark J. Crites, and Stephen D. West
Regional Patterns of Small Mammal Abundance and Community Composition in Oregon and Washington.
(PDF) U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on June 26, 2007. Plants include large stands of Douglas-fir trees, western hemlock forests,

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

trees, with portions of these forests including

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

stands. Other flora include

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

salmonberry ''Rubus spectabilis'', the salmonberry, is a species of bramble in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the west coast of North America from west-central Alaska to California, inland as far as Idaho. Like many other species in the genus ''Rubus'' ...

salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, spra ...

, tanoak, and western azalea.Tarrant, Robert F. and Chris Maser
From the Forest to the Sea: A Story of Fallen Trees: Introduction.
Tree Dictionary. Retrieved on June 26, 2007. Portions of the range are in the

Elliott State Forest Elliott State Forest is a state forest in Coos and Douglas counties of the U.S. state of Oregon, between Coos Bay and Reedsport in the Oregon Coast Range. The first state forest established in Oregon, it is named after the state's first state fo ...

Location and climate

The range begins around the Umpqua River with the

Central Oregon Coast Range The Central Oregon Coast Range is the middle section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, and located in the west-central portion of the state of Oregon, United States roughly between the Salmon River and t ...

to the north.

Oregon Route 38 Oregon Route 38 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the city of Reedsport, on the Oregon Coast, and an interchange with Interstate 5 near the communities of Curtin and Anlauf. It is also known as most of the Umpqua Highway No. 45 (see ...

is the general divide between the two sections. On the southern end the Coquille River's middle fork provides the general dividing line between the Central Range and the

to the south and east. The climate of the mountains is of the mild maritime variety. It is characterized by cool dry summers followed by mild and wet winters. Most precipitation falls in the form of rain, with snow during the winter months at the higher elevations. Annual precipitation varies from , with more in the higher elevations. The average high temperature in January is , and the average high in July is with temperature also varying by elevation.

Peaks

All peaks in the range are over in elevation.

Rivers

The following rivers have portions of their headwaters in the Southern Oregon Coast Range: *Drains to

: **

Coos River The Coos River flows for about into Coos Bay along the Pacific coast of southwest Oregon in the United States. Formed by the confluence of its major tributaries, the South Fork Coos River and the Millicoma River, it drains an important timber-pro ...

** Coquille River **

References

External links

* {{Oregon Coast Range * Mountain ranges of Oregon Landforms of Douglas County, Oregon Landforms of Coos County, Oregon