The Snow 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 north of

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

, USA in the

Mendocino National Forest The Mendocino National Forest is located in the Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern California and comprises 913,306 acres (3,696 km2). It is the only national forest in the state of California without a major paved road entering it ...

. The

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

passed the

California Wilderness Act of 1984 The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation ...

which created 23 new wilderness areas including Snow Mountain. It lies within the North Coast Range of mountains. Elevations are from to . The wilderness covers the crest of this North Coast Range mountain divide for and the summit area includes two peaks, East (7,050 ft) and West (7,021 ft). On October 17, 2006 the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act was signed into law ( Public Law No: 109-362) which added to the Snow Mountain Wilderness. In July 2015, the area became part of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The Trough Fire burned of Snow Mountain Wilderness and national forest land in August 2001. More than 12 million dollars was spent to contain the

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

even though most of the area was within the wilderness boundary. This human-caused wildfire started near Fouts Springs, an off-road vehicle recreational area in Mendocino National Forest.

Streams and waterways

The Middle and South Forks of Stony Creek flow down the east side of the divide. The west slopes are drained by the main Eel River and the

Rice Fork The Rice Fork is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 9, 2011 tributary of the Eel River in Lake County, California. The Rice Fork begins on the upper northwest side ...

of the Eel. Other tributaries are Bearwallow Creek and Thistle Glade Creek. Stony Creek has a self-sustaining population of wild rainbow trout.

Flora and fauna

More than 500 species of plants have been identified in the wilderness as well as 122 species of wildlife. The highest elevations have a

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

environment with barren, rocky slopes and stunted

red fir ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...

trees, while middle and lower elevations have stands of mixed conifers such as

white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges ...

, Jeffrey pine and

incense cedar ''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to eastern Asia and western North America. The generic n ...

as well as black oak.

Mountain mahogany ''Cercocarpus'', commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of at least nine species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow ...

grows on exposed ridges in the wilderness and is a food source for the

black-tailed deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

. Rare native plants include Sonoma manzanita (''Arctostaphylos canescens ssp. sonomensis'') on Snow Mountain East, on St John's Mountain is the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

annual herb bentflower fiddleneck (''Amsinckia lunaris''). Other wildlife include

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

spotted owl The spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis'') is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between high a ...

and game birds like

California quail The California quail (''Callipepla californica''), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. These birds have a curving crest or '' plume'', made of six feathers, tha ...

sooty grouse The sooty grouse (''Dendragapus fuliginosus'') is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges.del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' 2: 401-402. Lynx ...

and bandtailed pigeon.

Recreation

Activities in the wilderness include day

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and horseback riding. The Forest Service encourages the practice of Leave No Trace principles of outdoor travel to minimize

human impact on the environment Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the need ...

Trails

There are of maintained trails and of unmaintained trails. Eight trailheads provide access with four of those being above . The lower elevation trails are Trout Creek and Bearwallow trail. The trailhead of Bearwallow begins on the east side of the wilderness and crosses the southern and western slopes of Saint John Mountain (6,719 ft). The Milk Ranch Loop Trail is nine miles (14 km) long and crosses privately owned land of the Milk Ranch. Permission from the owner allows using the trail, but no camping. The name "Milk Ranch" comes from one of the first settlers to the mountain in the late 19th century, a Mrs. Tobobin who operated a dairy ranch in the meadow. In the spring the cows would be moved to this higher elevation meadow of the mountain and in autumn, the butter would be brought down to the towns of Williams and Willows to be sold.Mauldin, Henry. ''Mountains & Pioneers of Lake County'', Earthen Vessels Productions, Inc, 1995, p.29

Footnotes

References

External links

The Mendocino National Forest/Snow Mountain webpage

The Bureau of Land Management's Leave No Trace training page

Snow Mountain Hiking Association
{{Authority control Protected areas of Colusa County, California Protected areas of Glenn County, California Protected areas of Lake County, California Wilderness areas of California IUCN Category Ib Mendocino National Forest Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Protected areas established in 1984 1984 establishments in California