Inyo Mountains
Inyo Mountains from space
Highest point
Peak	Waucoba Mountain [1] , ~18 mi (29 km) southeast of Big Pine .
Elevation	11,123 ft (3,390 m)
Coordinates	36°10′00″N 118°00′03″W  /  36.16667°N 118.00083°W  / 36.16667; -118.00083
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 in eastern California in the United States . ^[2] The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately 70 miles (110 km) south-southeast from the southern end of the White Mountains , from which they are separated by Westgard Pass , to the 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. ^[3]

Wilderness [ edit ]

Most of the mountain range (199,208 acres (806.17 km ² )) is designated as the Inyo Mountain Wilderness , managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the south and the United States Forest Service in the north. ^[4] The USFS manages 73,300 acres (297 km ² ) of the wilderness all within Inyo National Forest . ^[5]

Wildlife in the area includes the endangered Inyo Mountains salamander and the desert bighorn sheep . ^[6] Plant communities include creosote and sagebrush at lower altitudes, and bristlecone pine forests at higher altitudes. ^[7] A number of rare and endemic plants are adapted to the unique limestone soils of the mountains, including the cliffdweller , ^[8] bristlecone cryptantha , ^[9] and Inyo rock daisy . ^[10]

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Inyo Mountain Wilderness - BLM

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