Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Infobox_protected_area | name = Strawberry Mountain Wilderness
iucn_category = Ib

---

caption = Lower Strawberry Lake, with the Palisades in the background.
locator_x =
locator_y =
location = Oregon, USA
nearest_city = Canyon City and Prairie City
lat_degrees = 44
lat_minutes = 18
lat_seconds = 10
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 118
long_minutes = 47
long_seconds = 36
long_direction = W
area = convert|69350|acre|km2|1|sing=off
established = 1964
governing_body = United States Forest Service

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area of the Strawberry Mountain Range, within Malheur National Forest in the Blue Mountains of east Oregon. The area comprises convert|69350|acre|km2|0|sing=off, including mountain peaks and several lakes, and contains more than convert|125|mi|km|0|sing=off of hiking trails. Strawberry Mountain was designated wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964, and in 1984 more than doubled in size with the passage of the Oregon Wilderness Act. [ [http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=581&tab=Public%20Laws Stawberry Mountain Wilderness - Public Laws] - Wilderness.net] It is managed by the United States Forest Service. [http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur/recreation/wild.shtml Malheur National Forest] ] [http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Strawberry%20Mountain Strawberry Mountain Wilderness] - Wilderness.net]

Topography

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness ranges in elevation from convert|4000|ft|m|0|sing=off to convert|9038|ft|m|0|sing=off, at the summit of Strawberry Mountain, and contains five of the seven major life zones in North America. There are seven alpine lakes in the Wilderness, including Strawberry Lake, High Lake, and Slide Lake. It also contains the headwaters of numerous streams, including Pine, Indian, Strawberry, Canyon, Bear, Lake, Wall, Roberts, and Big Creek.

Geology

Millions of years ago an ancient sea floor began to buckle beneath the area where the western part of the Strawberry Range now rises. Volcanic ash and lava later formed the eastern part of the range. More recently, glaciation carved U-shaped valleys and hollowed out beds that today hold seven alpine lakes.

Vegetation

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness contains a large number of larch trees, as well as spruce, fir, and pine forests. Common flowers in the Wilderness include buttercups, mariposa lily, shooting star, paintbrush, wild onion, yarrow, and western Jacob's ladder. Other abundant vegetation includes wild strawberry, grouseberry, thinleaf huckleberry, Oregon grape, swamp gooseberry, thimbleberry, and Sitka Alder. [http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_wilderness_area/or_straw.htm Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, Oregon] - GORP]

Wildlife

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness is home to at least 378 kinds of animals and 22 species of fish. These include Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, antelope, black bear, cougar, California bighorn sheep, ruffed and blue grouse, pileated woodpecker, sharp-shinned hawk, bald eagle, pine marten, mink, and beaver. Some species of fish in the Middle Fork of the Malheur River include bull trout, redband trout, and rainbow trout. [ [http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur/ecology/fish.shtml Malheur National Forest - Ecosystems Fish] ]

Gallery

References

ee also

*List of Oregon Wildernesses
* List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
*Malheur River

External links

* [http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur/recreation/wild.shtml Malheur National Forest - Wilderness]
* [http://www.prairiecityoregon.com/prairie-city-oregon-wilderness.html Strawberry Mountain Wilderness] - Prairie City, Oregon website