Chuckwalla Mountains

The Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California.

Geography

The range spans approximately 40 miles (64 km), running in a generally northwest-to-southeast direction. It is bordered to the north by Interstate 10 and the town of Desert Center, and to the south by the Bradshaw Trail and the Chocolate Mountains Aerial Gunnery Range. The highest point is Black Butte, elevation 4,504 feet (1,373 m). The Chuckwalla Range is divided from the Little Chuckwalla Range by Graham Pass. The Orocopia Mountains are to the west, and Joshua Tree National Park to the northwest.

Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area

Most of the mountains were designated by the Bureau of Land Management as the Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area in 1994. Motorized travel is allowed only on “cherry-stemmed” established roads.

The Chuckwalla Mountains, near the San Andreas Fault, rise like an island from a vast sea of sand and rock, within the walls of this "rock fortress" are a variety of landforms, textures, and colors. They include steep-walled canyons, inland valleys, large and small washes, isolated rock outcrops and panoramic expanses of desert.