Inyo Mountains

Inyo Mountains
Inyo Mountains from space
Highest point
Peak	Waucoba Mountain, ~18 mi (29 km) southeast of Big Pine.
Elevation	11,123 ft (3,390 m)
Dimensions
Length	70 mi (110 km)
Width	10 mi (16 km)
Geography
Country	United States
States	California and Nevada
Parent range	Basin and Range Province
Borders on	White Mountains, Sierra Nevada

The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada mountains in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west with Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately 70 mi (130 km) SSE from the southern end of the White Mountains, from which they are separated by Westgard Pass, to east of Owens Lake.

Geologically, the mountains are a fault block range in the Basin and Range Province, at the western end of the Great Basin. They are considered to be among the most important and best-known Late Proterozoic to Cambrian sections in the United States.

Approximately 205,000 acres (810 km²) of the range are designated as the Inyo Mountain Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Much of the northern part of the range is within Inyo National Forest.

Wildlife in the area includes the endangered Inyo Mountains Salamander and the Desert Bighorn Sheep. Plant communities include creosote and sagebrush at lower altitudes, and bristlecone pine forests at higher. A number of rare and endemic plants are adapted to the unique limestone soils of the mountains, including the cliffdweller, bristlecone cryptantha, and Inyo rock daisy.

External links

• High Inyo Mountains Fossils, California
• Ammonoids At Union Wash, California Virtual field trip to a classic fossil locality along the western flanks of the Inyo Mountains
• Inyo Mountain Wilderness at BLM

Inyo Mountain Wilderness

Inyo Mountain crest, north of New York Butte