The Black Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located in the southeastern part of

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

, within southeastern

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 ...

Geography

The Black Mountains are a southern range of the

Amargosa Range The Amargosa Range is a mountain range in Inyo County, California and Nye County, Nevada. The range runs along most of the eastern side of California's Death Valley, separating it from Nevada's Amargosa Desert. The U-shaped Amargosa River flows ...

System and lie in a generally north–south direction at their southwestern end. Their formation has been classified as the Amargosa Chaos. Lower

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

lies to the west & southwest of the Black Mountains section, with Greenwater Valley and the

Greenwater Range The Greenwater Range is a mountain range located in the eastern Mojave Desert in Inyo County, California. They are located west of the section of California State Route 127 north of Shoshone, California. Geography The mountains lie a short dista ...

to the northeast. The Black Mountains and Greenwater Range abut the

Funeral Mountains The Funeral Mountains are a short, arid mountain range in the United States along the California-Nevada border approximately 100 mi (160 km) west of Las Vegas. The mountains are considered a subrange of the Amargosa Range that form the ...

on the north, also at the southern terminus of the Amargosa Range. The Amargosa River turns south-southwest, around the three sub-ranges, then northwest into Death Valley. 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 ...

are to the south across the

Amargosa River The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, int ...

and its steep descent into Death Valley. ;Features The range reaches an elevation of above sea level at Funeral Peak. Dante's View and Coffin Peak lie at the northern end of the range. The

Amargosa Desert The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border, comprising the northeastern portion of the geographic Amargosa Valley, north of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The ...

History

The Lila C Mine, of "The Borax King"

Francis Marion Smith Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisc ...

and his

Pacific Coast Borax Company The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King". History The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east of ...

, was developed to mine

borax Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...

just east of the range. Around 1914 he built the Death Valley Railroad to primarily serve the newer Ryan C. Mine above it within the Black Mountains, with a spur to the Lila C. tracks.

References

* * Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of Inyo County, California Amargosa Desert Death Valley National Park {{InyoCountyCA-geo-stub

Geography

History

See also

References