The Hexie Mountains are a desert

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

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...

, in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Geography

The range is located in the higher northern

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 ...

area of the park. They are north of the Cottonwood Mountains, and south of the

Pinto Mountains The Pinto Mountains are found in southern California, USA, at the north-central part of Joshua Tree National Park. The range reaches an elevation of southeast of the city of Twentynine Palms. The range is made up of dark gneiss, and the creosote ...

. The

Eagle Mountains The Eagle Mountains are located in northeastern Riverside County, California, U.S. Geography The range lies to the north of Interstate 10 (California) off County Route R2 (California) and west— and southwest of the Coxcomb Mountains. They ar ...

lie to the east of the Hexie Mountains.

Natural history

Numerous washes drain the Hexie Mountains, including Porcupine Wash and Fried Liver Wash. These host a mixture of low and high desert animals and plants. A herd of

desert bighorn sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The Bu ...

also live there.

History

There were attempts to mine and mill gold at many sites, including Ruby Lee Mill, and none were successful. Native

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

can also be found in the Hexie Mountains.

References

Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of Riverside County, California Mountain ranges of Southern California Joshua Tree National Park {{RiversideCountyCA-geo-stub