The Little Picacho Wilderness is a wilderness area under the jurisdiction of the
Bureau of Land Management. The wilderness is found in a southeast extension of the
Chocolate Mountains
The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial and Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) in a northwest to southeast direction, and are located ea ...
adjacent to the
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
, in the southeastern part of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It should not be confused with the
Picacho Peak Wilderness which is located to the northeast.
At elevations ranging from , the wilderness is home to the Picacho wild
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
, which roams the northwestern part of the wilderness. The wilderness provides habitat for wild
burro
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
,
desert tortoise
The desert tortoise (''Gopherus agassizii''), is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexic ...
,
spotted bat and
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 ...
.
The Little Picacho Wilderness is one of a number of federally protected areas located north of
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515.
Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...
and south of
Blythe, California
Blythe is a city in eastern Riverside County, California, United States. It is in the Palo Verde Valley of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River, approximatel ...
in the
Lower Colorado River Valley.
See also
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Little Picacho Wilderness flora
The flora of the Little Picacho Wilderness located in southeastern Imperial County, Southern California. It is within the Colorado Desert subregion, of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion
The Little Picacho Wilderness is located in the southern porti ...
*
Chocolate Mountains
The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial and Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) in a northwest to southeast direction, and are located ea ...
*
Indian Pass Wilderness
References
External links
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Protected areas of the Colorado Desert
Wilderness areas within the Lower Colorado River Valley
Protected areas of Imperial County, California
Bureau of Land Management areas in California
Protected areas established in 1994
1994 establishments in California
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