The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California. It is noted for both its arid climate and the basin and range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin in Death Valley to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than 100 miles (160 km) away at the summit of Mount Whitney. The region spans several physiographic divisions, biomes, ecoregions, and deserts.
The Mojave Desert is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending into Arizona and Utah.
Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress, which also established Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park as National Parks. Previously, some lands contained within the Preserve were the East Mojave National Scenic Area, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. At 1,542,776 acres (6,243 km2), within the contiguous United States it is the third largest unit of the National Park System and the first largest National Preserve. The preserve was created within the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service and remains within that jurisdiction today.
The ecology of California can be understood by dividing the state into a number of ecoregions, which contain distinct ecological communities of plants and animals in a contiguous region. The ecoregions of California can be grouped into four major groups: desert ecoregions, Mediterranean ecoregions, forested mountains, and coastal forests.
The Tehachapi Mountains are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately 40 miles (64 km) in southern Kern County and northwestern Los Angeles County and form part of the boundary between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert.
The San Jacinto Mountains are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mountains are named for one of the first Black Friars, Saint Hyacinth, who is a popular patron in Latin America.
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into the ground aquifer. Except for a small portion of its route in the Amargosa Canyon in California and a small portion at Beatty, Nevada, the river flows above ground only after a rare rainstorm washes the region. A 26-mile (42 km) stretch of the river between Shoshone and Dumont Dunes is protected as a National Wild and Scenic River. At the south end of Tecopa Valley the Amargosa River Natural Area protects the habitat.
The Providence Mountains are found in the eastern Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, U.S. The range reaches an elevation of 7,162 feet (2,183 m) at Edgar Peak and is home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, and the Mojave National Preserve.
The Clark Mountain Range is located in southeastern California, north of Interstate 15 and the community of Mountain Pass. The range stretches approximately 15 miles (24 km) in a southwest-northeasterly direction, beginning in the Mojave National Preserve, and ending near Stateline Pass, about one mile (1.6 km) from the Nevada border. Clark Mountain, at 7,929 feet above sea level, is the principal peak of the range.
The Nopah Range is a mountain range located in Inyo County, California, United States, near the eastern border with Nevada.
The Castle Mountains are located in the Eastern Mojave Desert, in northeastern San Bernardino County, California and Clark County, Nevada. The range lies south and east of the New York Mountains, southwest of Searchlight and west of Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada.
The Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is located in the Providence Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. It is also home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve.
The Deserts of California, collectively known as the California Deserts, are a region of California made up of distinct deserts that each have unique ecosystems and habitats. The region is home to a sociocultural and historical "Old West" collection of legends, districts, and communities, and they also form a popular tourism region of dramatic natural features and recreational development.
The Stateline Wilderness is a wilderness area located in San Bernardino County, California, approximately three miles northwest of Primm, Nevada and I-15. Having an area of approximately 7,004 acres (2,834 ha), it contains the eastern terminus of the 15-mile-long (24 km) Clark Mountain Range.
The Great Basin montane forests is an ecoregion of the Temperate coniferous forests biome, as designated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Shadow Valley is a north to northwest flowing drainage within the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California. A section of Interstate 15 passes through the valley between Mountain Pass and Halloran Springs. The valley drains to the north from the west flank of the Mescal Range, the Ivanpah Mountains and Cima Dome within the Mojave National Preserve. North of I-15 the valley lies between Clark Mountains to the east and Shadow Mountain to the west. To the north of Shadow Mountain, Kingman Wash becomes the main drainage and turns to the west south of the Kingston Range. The Mesquite Mountains and the Mesquite Valley are to the northeast.
Castle Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the eastern Mojave Desert and northeastern San Bernardino County, in the state of California.
La Dura Dura is a 50-metre (160 ft) sport climbing route on the limestone cliffs at Peramola, a village in Oliana, Spain. The route was bolted and developed by American climber Chris Sharma in 2009 who had almost given up believing he could climb it until a collaboration with Czech climber Adam Ondra led to Ondra climbing the route on 7 February 2013, followed by Sharma on 23 March 2013.
Sébastien Bouin, nicknamed Seb Bouin, is a French rock climber born in Draguignan. By 2022, Bouin was regarded as one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, being only the second-ever climber to establish a route graded 9c (5.15d), with DNA in 2022, and one of only a handful of climbers to create a new route at the grade of 9b+ (5.15c). Bouin is also regarded for his documentary series on the history of extreme sport climbing in France.
Jumbo Love is is a long 76-metre (249 ft) sport climbing route on remote limestone cliffs on Clark Mountain in the Mojave Desert. Bolted by American climber Randy Leavitt in the 1990s, he invited Chris Sharma to attempt it in 2007. When Sharma completed the first ascent on 11 September 2008, the route became the first-ever rock climb in history to have a confirmed grade of 9b (5.15b), and an important route in rock climbing history.
