Topography. — This county lies on the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and is
a succession of mountain ranges and valleys. About 375,000 acres are valley, 325,000
acres are foothill, and the remainder mountainous. In its eastern part the hills are
regardless of order of arrangement; in the central and western parts, their trend is
mainly to the southeast and northwest. In the west, Lassen Buttes rise over 10,000 feet
above the sea-level. Diamond Mountains divide Lassen from Plumas County. Big
Valley, in the extreme north, watered and drained by Pitt .River,. which runs west into
the Sacramento, extends west into Modoc County, and has in Lassen County about
75,000 acres. Honey Lake Valley borders Diamond Mountains, and is 45 miles from
southeast to northwest, and about 15 miles wide. Long Valley, in the extreme southeast,
unlike the other valleys, is of small value for agricultural purposes. In the east-central
portion lie the Madeline Plains, a large, level tract, 35 by 15 mUes, 5,300 feet altitude,
and covered with sagebrush. Eagle Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, with an area of
27,813 acres. Honey Lake lies too low to be used for irrigation.
