The Piper Mountain Wilderness is a federally designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

located in the White Mountains northeast of Big Pine, California in

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

. The Wilderness Area was created by the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, and encompasses of Great Basin wildlands, east of the

Owens Valley Owens Valley ( Numic: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Iny ...

and west of the Eureka Valley.

Geography

There are three separate units of the wilderness, separated by vehicle corridors, with elevations from to . The landscape is characterized by steep mountains, narrow canyons, sloping

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...

fans and level floodplains. It includes a subrange of the

Inyo Mountains The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately south-southeast fr ...

called the Chocolate Mountains, a northwestern section of the

Last Chance Range The Last Chance Range of California is located near the Nevada state line in eastern Inyo County in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country ...

and the upper end of Eureka Valley which is immediately north of Death Valley National Park. The highest peaks of the wilderness are in the Chocolate Mountains and include Mount Nunn (7,815 feet) and Lime Hill (6,532 feet). The wilderness's namesake Piper Mountain (labeled 'Chocolate Mountain' on topo maps) rises to an elevation of .

Topography

The vehicle corridors that break the continuity of the Piper Wilderness Area into three parts were a concession made when the area was added to the California Desert Protection Act. * The western section is the largest of the three and includes the east side, the steep west side and the crest of the Chocolate Mountains subrange. * The central section is separated from the western portion by a road linking State Route 168 to Death Valley Road. A colorful and deeply dissected bahada rising to a subrange of the Last Chance Mountains characterize the central section. * The third and smallest section of the wilderness is separated from the central portion by Loretto Mine Road and Horse Thief Canyon and is a continuation of the Last Chance subrange with its border being the Eureka Valley Road and Death Valley National Park.

Flora and fauna

Desert vegetation include xeric shrublands of

Creosote bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

(''Larrea tridentata'') in the lower valleys. Plants in the higher elevations include:

Shadscale ''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Me ...

(''Atriplex confertifolia''), Littleleaf Horsebrush (''Tetradymia axillaris''), Stansbury cliffrose (''Purshia stansburiana''), Desert-olive (''Forestiera pubescens'') and Mormon tea (''Ephedra californica'') on . North-facing high elevation slopes are studded with

Single-leaf Pinyon ''Pinus monophylla'', the single-leaf pinyon, (alternatively spelled piñon) is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southe ...

(''Pinus monophylla'') and

California juniper ''Juniperus californica'', the California juniper, is a species of juniper native to southwestern North America. Description ''Juniperus californica'' is a shrub or small tree reaching , but rarely up to tall. The bark is ashy gray, typically t ...

(''Juniperus californica''). Within the wilderness grows one of the northernmost stands of

Joshua Tree ''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''), at the base of the Inyo Mountains. Rare wildflowers include black milkvetch or Funeral Mountain milkvetch (''Astragalus funereus''), and the cactus Redspined fishhook cactus or Mojave fish hook cactus (''Sclerocactus polyancistrus''), which grows in Joshua tree "woodland" communities. There are three areas within the wilderness that are habitat for the

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 ...

Recreation

Recreational opportunities are day-hiking and backpacking with solitude almost guaranteed as the wilderness is very lightly used. The Bureau of Land Management oversees the Piper Wilderness and does not require any permits for visitors. Because th
Piper Mountain Wilderness Area
received federal protection so recently, the of trail are actually closed four-wheel drive roads.

Water and recreation

Water is the single most limiting factor when exploring this desert wilderness. Caching water is possible in many locations because of the road corridors through the area. The majority of visitors are students from Deep Springs College in Deep Springs Valley, located between highway 168 and the western edge of the wilderness. Most often hiked is the deep notch of the Soldier Pass Canyon which extends east to west in the Chocolate Mountains. Maps dating to 1879 show a "Soldier Pass" label.Adkinson, Ron p.102 The eastern face of the Chocolate Mountains rise above the canyon mouth with the canyon narrowing as it rises in elevation. The broad saddle of Soldier Pass is gained after and is at an elevation of . The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) encourages the practice of Leave No Trace principles of wilderness travel to help protect the fragile desert environment.

Footnotes

References

* Adkinson, Ron ''Wild Northern California-A guide to forty-one roadless areas including the entire Sierra Nevada''. Globe Piquet Press, 2001
BLM Official website on the Piper Mountain Wilderness

External links

Piper Mountain Wilderness
- BLM
California Desert District Ridgecrest Field Office
- BLM
Piper Mountain Wilderness
- Wilderness Connect {{authority control Wilderness areas of California Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of Inyo County, California Inyo Mountains Bureau of Land Management areas in California Protected areas established in 1994 1994 establishments in California