The mountains in the McCullough Range lie mostly above the city of Henderson in the U.S. state of Nevada. The range has two distinct areas with the northern portion being primarily volcanic in origin, while the southern part of the range is primarily composed of metamorphic rock. McCullough Range was named after a pioneer settler.

Wilderness Areas

Some of the northern part of the range is designated as the North McCullough Wilderness by the US Department of the Interior's

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 ...

while some of the southern part of the range is similarly designated as the South McCullough Wilderness. In addition the North McCullough Wilderness Area is within the newly designated Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area which allows further protection and enhancement.

McCullough Range geography

The McCullough Range is surrounded by three valleys. First, the Las Vegas Valley lies to the north; next, the north region of the

Ivanpah Valley The Ivanpah Valley is in southeastern California and southern Nevada in the United States. The valley is between the New York Mountains and the Ivanpah Mountains in San Bernardino County on the California side, and in Clark County on the Nevada ...

, with two major

dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...

s borders the west; and to the east lies the endorheic basin of the

Eldorado Valley Eldorado Valley, or El Dorado Valley, is a Great Basin valley in the Mojave Desert southeast of Las Vegas and southwest of Boulder City, Nevada. The valley is endorheic, containing the Eldorado Dry Lake. The Great Basin Divide, transects ridgelines ...

. The range specifically borders one mountain range at the south, being connected to the northeast higher elevation foothills of the New York Mountains. Just northeast of the intersection of the two ranges, and in the southwest of Eldorado Valley lies the small Highland Range.

Natural history

Northern

In the northern portion of the McCullough Range elevation spans from at the eastern base of the range to at

Black Mountain Black Mountain may refer to: Places Australia * Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory), a mountain in Canberra * Black Mountain, New South Wales, a village in Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales * Black Mountain, Queensland, a loca ...

. The peaks are volcanic in origin, rounded to flat-topped, and have a steep eastern escarpment and a gradual western slope. The area supports a unique combination of plants from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts and Great Basin Desert ecosystems. The primary vegetation is a creosote bush community with barrel cactus (''Ferocactus cylindraceus''),

Joshua trees ''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 ...

(''Yucca brevifolia''), various chollas (''Cylindropuntia'' spp.) and prickly pears (''Opuntia'' spp.). Unlike other mountain ranges in Clark County, the McCullough Range is volcanic in origin. Examples of lava flows, ash falls and glassy zones are clearly visible. The area supports native black gramma grass (''Bouteloua eriopoda''), which is not known to occur anywhere else in Nevada and stands of

teddy bear cholla ''Cylindropuntia bigelovii'', the teddy-bear cholla ''(choy-ya''), is a Cylindropuntia, cholla cactus species native to Northwestern Mexico, and to the United States in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Description ''Cylindropuntia bigelovii'' ...

(''Cylindropuntia bigelovii''), which is the northernmost extent of the species. Remarkable

petroglyph 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 ...

panels and other important cultural resource features occur within the wilderness area. Another peak northeast of Black Mountain is home to most of the radio and television transmission towers for the Las Vegas Valley.

Southern

The southern portion consists of a north–south mountain range that drops off gradually to numerous valleys, foothills and sloping bajadas on the east and west flanks. Elevations range from in the northwest portion of the area to at McCullough Mountain in the center of the wilderness. Most of the area is composed of metamorphosed

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

rock, granite, and schist, although basalt and andesite flows occur in the northern reaches of the southern portion. Creosote bush (''Larrea tridentata'') scrub occurs below ; Joshua trees, Mojave yucca (''Yucca schidigera''), and other cacti occur between ; blackbrush occurs between ; pinyon-juniper occurs above . Scattered mesquite/catclaw communities also occur in washes throughout the area. Signs of prehistoric and Pre-Columbian habitation have been found in the area, including

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

, occupation and settlement sites, and pinyon pine nut caches. This was part of the historic homeland of the Mojave people. The desert tortoise, Nelson bighorn sheep, Gambel's quail and chukar are present.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from Bureau of Land Management sources listed above.

External links

The McCullough Range: information websiteVolcanic Centers of the Northern McCullough Range
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccullough Range Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of Nevada Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley Eldorado Valley Ivanpah Valley Mountain ranges of Clark County, Nevada Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Bureau of Land Management areas in Nevada