Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness

The Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness ia a 33,475-acre (135.47 km²) wilderness area located 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Twentynine Palms, California.

Named for the dry lakes found at the center of the wilderness, this area has a variety of natural resources. The east portion is mountainous while the west portion is a vast alluvial slope or bajada. Elevations range from 1,400 feet (430 m) at the desert floor to the rugged Bullion Mountains, which rise more than 4,100 feet (1,200 m) across a 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch. ^[1]

Wildlife include desert bighorn sheep, with desert tortoise in the valley floor habitat. Vegetation includes Barrel cactus and "smoke trees" in some washes. The Cleghorn Lakes offer occasional spring wildflower displays, and the Crucifixion Thorn (Castela emoryi) shrub has been found near the eastern edge of the wilderness boundary. It is native to California, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico and listed by the California Native Plant Society as rare in California, but common elsewhere.^[2]

Crucifixion Thorn

Notes

1. ^ "Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness". http://www.blm.gov/ca/pa/wilderness/wa/areas/cleghorn_lakes.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 
2. ^ "Taxon Report". http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=1667. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 

Coordinates: 34°15′21″N 115°48′39″W / 34.25583°N 115.81083°W / 34.25583; -115.81083