Sierra Pelona Ridge
(Redirected from Sierra Pelona Mountains)
Mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in California, United States
Sierra Pelona
Sierra Pelona Mountains
View from Santa Clarita
Burnt Peak[1]
5,791 ft (1,765 m)
34°40′57″N 118°34′36″W / 34.6825°N 118.5768°W / 34.6825; -118.5768Coordinates: 34°40′57″N 118°34′36″W / 34.6825°N 118.5768°W / 34.6825; -118.5768
Spanish for "Bald Mountains"
Location of Sierra Pelona Ridge in California [2]
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Parent range
The Sierra Pelona, also known as the Sierra Pelona Ridge[2] or the Sierra Pelona Mountains, is a mountain ridge in the Transverse Ranges in Southern California.[3] Located in northwest Los Angeles County, the ridge is bordered on the north by the San Andreas fault and lies within and is surrounded by the Angeles National Forest.
2 Climate
3 Ecology
4 Hydrology
5 Human history
5.1 Native American habitation
5.2 18th and 19th centuries
5.3 20th century
6 Highest peaks
7 Adjacent landforms
The Sierra Pelona Mountains lie northwest of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are divided by the wide Soledad Canyon formation. The mountains are flanked to the south by the Santa Clarita Valley and separated from the Antelope Valley and the Mojave Desert to the north by the San Andreas Fault. Toward the southeast lie Vasquez Rocks, thrust up by the fault. The Tejon Pass separates the Sierra Pelonas, the San Emigdios and the Tehachapis near Gorman and Lebec.
Within the Sierra Pelonas lie the rural areas of Neenach, Three Points, Lake Hughes, Elizabeth Lake, Acton, Agua Dulce and Green Valley. The cities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale, and Lancaster are located at the base of the mountains.
The climate of the mountains is a Mediterranean climate. Summers are mostly dry except for occasional thunderstorms, and winters comparatively cold and wet. Snowfall is infrequent due to the relatively low elevations of mountains within this ridge, with only the few tallest peaks regularly receiving snowfall during the winter.
Ecology[edit]
Mainly the ridge falls under the California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, excepting the northeastern flank's gradual slope into the Antelope Valley near Palmdale. The mountains are primarily covered in short grasses, scrub oak trees, yucca, and other chaparral shrubs. The ridge is prone to wildfires in the summer and fall, especially when the Santa Ana winds blow in from the Antelope Valley.
Hydrology[edit]
Aerial view of the Sierra Pelona Mountains and San Andreas Fault
Three major tributaries of the Santa Clara River and numerous minor watercourses and washes drain the ridge: Castaic Creek, San Francisquito Creek, and Bouquet Creek.
Three sag ponds nestle within the narrow valley that divides the mountains from the Antelope Valley: Hughes Lake, Munz Lakes, and Elizabeth Lake.
Human history[edit]
Native American habitation[edit]
See also: Native American history of California
The Native population of California in the Sierra Pelona and Santa Susana Mountains included te Tataviam and Serrano people. They traded with the Tongva and Chumash to the south and west, until the Spanish colonization of the Americas relocated them from their homelands.
18th and 19th centuries[edit]
The San Francisquito Canyon, which runs north-south through the mountains, served as a major wagon route between the Antelope and San Fernando Valleys. This corridor summited at San Francisquito Pass and was part of the El Camino Viejo - an alternate land route to the El Camino Real for reaching northern Spanish and Mexican colonial Alta California - as well as the Butterfield Overland Mail route.
20th century[edit]
The Ridge Route, a landmark two-lane highway that connected Los Angeles to the rest of California, was built along the western flank of the ridge and was completed in 1915. It was later bypassed by the Ridge Route Alternate (US 99) in 1930, itself superseded by Interstate 5 completed in 1971.
The rapid development of Southern California throughout the 20th century saw construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and five separate reservoirs to supply water to the region: Castaic Lake, Bouquet Reservoir, Drinkwater Reservoir, and Dry Canyon Reservoir and the St. Francis Reservoir, both now drained and destroyed.
Highest peaks[edit]
Burnt Peak is the tallest mountain in the Sierra Pelona Mountains.
Burnt Peak: 5,788 ft (1,764 m)
Liebre Mountain: 5,760+ ft (1,756+ m)
Sawmill Mountain: 5,514 ft (1,681 m)
Jupiter Mountain: 4,498 ft (1,371 m)
Redrock Mountain (benchmark): 3,991 ft (1,216 m)
Adjacent landforms[edit]
Tehachapi Mountains - on the north
San Emigdio Mountains - on the northwest
Topatopa Mountains - on the west
Santa Susana Mountains - to the southwest
San Gabriel Mountains - to the east
Santa Clarita Valley - to the south
Soledad Canyon - to the southeast
Antelope Valley (part of the Mojave Desert) - on the east-northeast
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sierra Pelona Ridge.
^ "Burnt Peak". Peakbagger.com.
^ a b "Sierra Pelona Ridge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Gabriel Mountains
Centennial, California, a proposed master-planned community in the area
Santa Clara River Watershed
Castaic Creek
Piru Creek
San Francisquito Creek
Sespe Creek
Bardsdale
Castaic Junction
Elizabeth Lake
Sand Canyon
Saticoy
Angeles National Forest
Bouquet Reservoir
Castaic Lake
Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
Dry Canyon Reservoir
Hughes Lake
Lake Piru
Los Angeles Aqueduct
Los Padres National Forest
McGrath State Beach
Mentryville
Mint Canyon Formation
Munz Lakes
Placerita Canyon State Park
Pyramid Dam
Rancho Camulos
Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia
Rancho San Francisco
Rancho Santa Clara del Norte
Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy
Rancho Sespe
Santa Clara River Trail
San Emigdio Mountains
San Francisquito Canyon
San Gabriel Mountains
St. Francis Dam
Santa Susana Mountains
Saticoy Oil Field
Sespe Wilderness
Sierra Madre Mountains
Soledad Canyon
Topatopa Mountains
Vasquez Rocks
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Mountains of the Mojave Desert
Mountains of Los Angeles County, California