Surprise Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in extreme northeastern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, about 60 miles in length from north to south. Locals refer to the area as the Tricorner Region because of the region's location at the intersection of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

state lines. The valley is east of the

Modoc County Modoc County () is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat ...

seat of

Alturas Alturas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Heights"; Achumawi language, Achumawi: ''Kasalektawi'') is a city and the county seat of Modoc County, California. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, the city had a population of ...

. The area is part of the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

which extends across most of the northern half of Nevada.

Terrain

Most of the valley is over 4,000 feet above mean sea level (AMSL), and could be characterized as a high altitude desert valley. A series of alkaline lakes occupy low-lying areas. Forested mountains mark the west side of the valley. The

Hays Canyon Range The Hays Canyon Range is a mountain range in northwest Washoe County, Nevada, adjacent the California border. The Surprise Valley with its alkali lakes and the Warner Mountains The Warner Mountains are an -long mountain range running north&ndas ...

, (mostly east of the Nevada state line) is to the east, and the

Warner Mountains The Warner Mountains are an -long mountain range running north–south through northeastern California and extending into southern Oregon in the United States. The range lies within the northwestern corner of the Basin and Range Province, exte ...

border the west. The valley is considered part of the Great Basin, a desert region roughly covering the geographic majority of Nevada and extending into

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

; also regions of southeast

, and southern

, in the east. Communities in Surprise Valley include Eagleville (ZIP Code 96110), Cedarville (96104), Lake City (96115), and

Fort Bidwell Fort Bidwell is a census-designated place in Modoc County, California. It is located northeast of Alturas, at an elevation of 4564 feet (1391 m). Its population is 180 as of the 2020 census, up from 173 from the 2010 census. Geography Fort Bi ...

(96112).

Visiting

Most of the land west of the main north-south highway, Surprise Valley Road, is US Forest Service land. To the east of the road, most land is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Recreational facilities on BLM lands tie in with the US Fish and Wildlife Service,

Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge The Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge on the northern border of the U.S. state of Nevada. A very small part extends northward into Oregon. It is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as the N ...

, Nevada (formerly called ''Sheldon Antelope Refuge''). Over the region, opportunities for hiking, exploring dirt roads, birding, stalking antelope with cameras, fishing, camping, and mountain biking are available. Big game and bird hunting is popular among some area visitors. A BLM brochure warns, "Snowstorms occasionally strand travelers. May and June snowstorms are not uncommon." There are hot springs and abandoned mine shafts throughout the region.

Transportation

Two gas stations exist in Cedarville. One (Rabbit Trax) is attended normal business hours, the other not normally attended. Both accept cards to pump any time. Additionally, there is a Tesla Destination Charger at The Cottage at Winjes Farm, which is located on Surprise Valley Road. Cedar Pass on State Route 299 is the main east-west road connecting the area with California and the county seat, Alturas. State Route 447 allows passage toward

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

via the Black Rock Desert community of

Gerlach, Nevada Gerlach, Nevada is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 107 at the 2018 American Community Survey. It is part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Prior to 2010, Gerlach w ...

. It is about 152 miles from Cedarville to Reno via this route. A segment of the Applegate-Lassen Route, a Nineteenth Century pioneer wagon route to the area, crosses the valley diagonally from north of State Route 299 to

Fandango Pass The Fandango Pass (previously Lassen Pass; variants Lassen Cut-off, Lassen Horn) is a gap in the Warner Mountains of Modoc County, California, USA. Located in the Modoc National Forest, its elevation is above sea level. It is approximately s ...

. The route is also known as the

California National Historic Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

. Other roads out of the valley are unpaved. Because of its location along the Nevada state line, it is normal to see patrol cars from the

Nevada Highway Patrol The Nevada State Police (NSP), formerly the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) from roughly 1949 to 2021, is the state police and highway patrol agency of Nevada, with state-wide jurisdiction. The Nevada State Police is a division of the Nevada Departm ...

and the

Washoe County Sheriff's Department Washoe or Washo may refer to: * Washoe people, an indigenous peoples of the Great Basin in North America Places ;United States * Washoe County, Nevada * Washoe Creek, Sonoma County, California * Washoe Lake, lake in Nevada * Washoe Valley, Neva ...

transiting the area.

Telecommunications

Wired telephone service in this part of

area code 530 Area code 530 is a California telephone area code in northeastern and Northern California. Regions within it include the Sacramento Valley (including some outer suburbs of Sacramento), Shasta Cascade, and the northern Sierra Nevada. Area code ...

appears to work out of a single central office and is provided by Frontier Communications. There is wireless service to some areas of the valley. This is a remote area and services that people from cities expect are sometimes degraded, expensive, or unavailable. The valley is one of the last places in California where Department of Transportation (Caltrans) highway workers have no radio communications coverage. California Highway Patrol radios were mostly useless in the area until the 1980s installation of a remote-controlled base station intended to cover the valley. The unvoted base station works over a 76 MHz link to establish radio connectivity from the Highway Patrol's command center to this remote area.

Indian tribal governments

There are two sovereign tribal governments in the valley: The

Cedarville Rancheria The Cedarville Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute people in Modoc County, California, about south of the Oregon border. Cedarville Rancheria is 26 acres in Cedarville. The tribal headquarters is located 20 miles away ...

and the

Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California The Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Modoc County in the northeast corner of California.Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

community on the southwest edge of Cedarville; it is led by Chairwoman Virginia Lash. The larger Fort Bidwell Paiute community is located at the Fort Bidwell Reservation to the north, and is led by Chairman Aaron Townsend.

Special districts

The area is entirely inside the Modoc County Air Pollution Control District. It is served by K-through-12 provider Surprise Valley Joint Unified School District headquartered in Cedarville. The Surprise Valley Hospital District, also known as Surprise Valley Healthcare District, operates a clinic in Cedarville. Cedarville Water District exists in Cedarville.

External links

Tribal

Fort Bidwell Indian Reservation

Bureau of Indian Affairs Leaders

Tribal Statistics (Law)

Other

Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce

Weather Observations
{{authority control Valleys of Modoc County, California Modoc Plateau Modoc National Forest Bureau of Land Management areas in California Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Valleys of California