The Sacatar Trail Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located northwest of Ridgecrest, California USA. It was created in 1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act -

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

103-433 - and is managed by the

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 ...

(BLM). The wilderness is in size and protects portions of the southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Mountain Range.

History

The Sacatar Trail was the only route into the Owens Valley from the west before the road over Walker Pass was built. Cattle, soldiers, and commercial traffic used this trail. It is the only designated hiking trail within the wilderness and is about nine miles (14 km) in length.

Landscape

Elevations in the wilderness are from to . The wilderness contains an " ecotone" formed by the convergence of desert and Sierran vegetative communities and encompasses a narrow band along the southern Sierra crest between Nine Mile Canyon in the south and Sequoia National Forest to the north. The boundary includes the desert-like eastern face of the

Range where broad alluvial fans or ''bajadas'' collect from Rose Valley. Height from Rose Valley up to the granite crest is as much as a mile. Five steep canyons cut through the east side with several perennial springs.

Flora and fauna

The perennial springs support riparian growth of Fremont cottonwood trees, willows and grasses. The higher elevations have single-leaf pinyon pine and

Jeffrey Pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

trees. Higher elevations have isolated stands of ponderosa pine and red fir. Within the area is one known population of ''Phacelia novermillensis'', also known as Nine Mile Canyon phacelia, and is an annual plant native to California and is toxic, causing dermatitis.

Recreation and access

Recreation activities are day- hiking, backpacking and pinyon nut gathering. A California campfire permit is required for open fires or backpack stoves. The trail crosses the wilderness from east to west, with the east side a steep and strenuous climb. Starting at the west trailhead and traveling east is recommended. The eastside trailhead is difficult to find because of minimal signage. A topographic map (Little Lake quad) or the BLM map of the area is helpful. The Bureau of Land Management encourages the practice of Leave No Trace principles of outdoor travel to minimize human impact on the environment. . accessed 6/20/2010

References

* Adkinson, Ron ''Wild Northern California, including the entire Sierra Nevada'', Globe Piquot Press, 2001.

Footnotes

External links

* * * * {{authority control Wilderness areas of California Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Protected areas of Inyo County, California Protected areas of Tulare County, California Ridgecrest, California Bureau of Land Management areas in California