The Silurian Hills are a small range of hills 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 ...

, southeast of Death Valley National Park, in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. The surrounding lower elevation lands provide important connectivity habitat between nearby mountain ranges. The area provides critical habitat and movement corridors for

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

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 ...

s, nesting

golden eagles The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds ...

, kit foxes and

burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...

s. The Silurian Valley is a largely undisturbed valley that supports wildlife and is an important link for this portion of the northern Mojave Desert.

Geography

The range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction, and is about long. The

Shadow Mountains The Shadow Mountains are located in the Mojave Desert of eastern California in the United States. The mountains lie in a generally north–south direction south of the Kingston Range and east of the Avawatz Mountains and the Silurian Hills. An i ...

lies to the east, and the

Avawatz Mountains The Avawatz Mountains are located in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert. Name There are several theories for the origin of the name Avawatz. It could be derived from the Mohave Indian term "Avi-Ahwat", or "red rock". Alter ...

, on the west, across the Silurian Valley. Salt Creek flows intermittently through the Silurian Valley connecting Silver Lake to the south with

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

to the north. Other nearby ranges are

Salt Spring Hills The Salt Spring Hills are a low mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in northern San Bernardino County, California. They are just outside the southeastern corner of Death Valley National Park, southeast of the Saddle Peak Hills. The road betwee ...

and

Sperry Hills The Sperry Hills are a low mountain range in the northern Mojave Desert—southern Amargosa Desert region, in northeastern San Bernardino County, southern California. They are located south of Shoshone, east of Death Valley National Park Deat ...

Sites of interest

Highway 127, traversing through the Silurian Valley in a northwest-southeasterly direction, connects three protected areas:

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. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to the Mojave Desert. Origin ...

, the

Mojave National Preserve Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of ...

and Death Valley National Park. This portion of highway 127 has been described as one of the most scenic in the state.Clarke, Chris (November 25, 2014
"Feds Deny Solar Project Near Mojave National Preserve"
'' KCET'' ReWire newsletter The small community of Halloran Springs near

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

lies about to the southeast. The Old Spanish Trail developed several variations to take advantage of better water sources and to shorten the length and time of travel. The Kingston Cutoff went southwest from Mountain Springs, Nevada, to Silurian Lake.Cart, Julie (November 20, 2014
"BLM rejects application for Silurian Valley energy project"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

References

* Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of San Bernardino County, California Hills of California Silurian California {{SanBernardinoCountyCA-geo-stub