Jawbone Canyon is a geographic feature 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 ...

and a

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

area located in

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County comprise ...

, north of Mojave on CA 14 near Cantil, CA. The area is a popular destination for

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Hist ...

and

off road vehicle An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of off-roading, driving on and off Pavement (material), paved or gravel surface. It is generally characteri ...

enthusiasts.

History

Europeans first settled in the canyon around 1860—naming it Jawbone because its shape resembled a

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

—and the trail was used as a trade route from Keyesville into the Piute Mountains (not to be confused with the Piute Mountains of the eastern

). During the

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfiel ...

gold rush, several gold mines operated in the canyon; the most successful of these, the St. John mine, yielded nearly $700,000 worth of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

between 1860 and 1875. The Gwynn mine, on the Geringer Grade, ran six claims yielding a total of $770,000 worth of gold and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

before ceasing operations in 1942. Mining continued throughout the 1940s, mainly focused on

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

and

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...

. The area has been used for recreation since the early 20th century. A scientific study, published in 1983, shows that extensive environmental damage had been caused by off road vehicles operating in Jawbone Canyon. Although off-roading is still permitted in the recreation area, as the Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern riders are restricted to established trails.

Features

*The largest sag pipe of the

Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...

crosses through Jawbone. *Blue Point, a large hill covered with blue-green stone, marks the entrance to Alphie Canyon. The color is due to

oxidized Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

in the rock. *The Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm is visible from the eastern end of the trail. *Jawbone Canyon road terminates at Piute Mountain Road, inside

Sequoia National Forest Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundar ...

. * Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern File:Jawbone lava.jpg, Large deposits of volcanic rock in Jawbone Canyon File:Jawbone floor.jpg, The floor of Jawbone Canyon File:Jawbone backcountry.jpg, The north-east of Jawbone Canyon File:Jawbone tree.jpg,

Yucca brevifolia ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

or Joshua tree at Jawbone Canyon File:Sandstone caves in Jawbone Canyon.jpg, Sandstone caves in Jawbone Canyon File:JAWBONE LOOKING NORTH - Los Angeles Aqueduct, Jawbone, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HAER CA-298-W-3.tif, Looking north along the

in Jawbone Canyon

References

External links

*Officia
BLM Jawbone Canyon websiteFriends of Jawbone websiteBLM Jawbone Canyon Map
{{authority control Mojave Desert Bureau of Land Management areas in California Protected areas of Kern County, California Protected areas of the Mojave Desert

History

Features

See also

Articles

Index

References

External links