Overview of Ranges
The Southwestern Mojave Ranges are one of the most desolate and starkly beautiful places in Southern California. The region is made up of a series of small usually volcanic or weathered granite ranges. The most prominent range is the rugged Ord Mountains which top out at 6,309 feet. Some of the other prominent ranges are the Granite Mountains 5,134ft., Newberry Mountains 5,117ft., Sidewinder Mountain 5,273ft. , Stoddard Mountain 4,896ft., Shadow Mountains 4,120ft., and the Rodman Mountains 6,010ft.. In the far western reaches of the Mojave you find a series of buttes that break up the flat desert. The most known of these is Saddleback Butte rising to 3,651 feet and Black Butte 3,581 feet.
History
For a interesting webpage on the history on the Southwestern Mojave and San Bernardino County go to
Empire.net.
For history on Lucerne Valley go to
LucerneValley.org.
For Ord Mountain mining history go to this
Empire.net page.
Saddleback Butte State Park
Saddleback Butte State Park is a great preserved place to go hiking and camping. The park was founded in 1960 to preserve this butte from the urban development in the Antelope Valley. The peak itself is a 4 mile round trip hike with a 1000 feet of gain. The views from the summit are impressive with the sprawl of other nearby buttes and the San Gabriel Mountains.
BLM Wilderness Areas
The majority of this region is under BLM management.
The
Rodman Mountain Wilderness area is 29,793 acres and was designated in 1994.
The adjacent
Newberry Mountains Wilderness area is 20,308 acres and was also designated in 1994.
Pisgah Crater
Pisgah Crater is a volcanic cinder cone that lies just south of the I40. It may have erupted as little as 2000 years ago.
Wikipedia page for
Pisgah Crater.
Major Roads
For roads involving access to the Granite Mountains, Newberry Mountains, Ord Mountains, and Rodman Mountains go to
Ord Mountain Route Network.
For roads involving access to the Stoddard Mountains and Sidewinder Mountain go to
Stoddard Valley Offroad Vehicle Area.
External Links
For current weather go to
Weather Underground.
For road and highway information in
San Bernardino County.