Sierra Madre Mountains (California)
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The Sierra Madre Mountains from the Cottonwood Canyon Road in Cuyama Valley
The Sierra Madre Mountains are a mountain range in northern Santa Barbara County in the U.S. state of California. They are a part of the Los Angeles Ranges, which are part of the mountain ranges of the North American Pacific coast itself. The chain sweeps from northwest to southeast and is about 40 kilometers long. On the highest peaks snow falls during the winter months. Outstanding peaks are MacPherson Peak (1752 meters) and its highest mountain peak mountain (1783 meters). In the southeast, the chain with the San Rafael Mountains combines in a jumble unnamed mountains, whose highest point is Big Pine Mountain with an altitude of 2080 meters the highest point of the Santa Barbara County is.
The Sierra Madre Mountains are almost entirely within the Los Padres National Forest, forming the northern boundary of the San Rafael Wilderness. The most south-eastern point of the chain is about 40 kilometers north of Santa Barbara and the northwest end point lies about 90 kilometers north- northwest of the city.
The predominant vegetation in this mountainous region is Chaparral; Oak forests exist in some areas and on some of the higher mountain slopes grow smaller coniferous forests. The mountains are one of the most important habitats of the endangered California condor. The Sierra Madre Mountains rise just south following the Cuyama Valley, which forms the northern edge of Santa Barbara County.
Geologically, the mountains consist almost entirely of sedimentary rocks from the Tertiary. For the most part it is in the Eocene oceanic resulting sandstone, an area in the east of the mountain chain consists of incurred in the early and middle Miocene sediments. The mountain range is bounded on the south by the Nacimiento Fault and the north by the South Cuyama fault and the Ozena warp.
The mountain range is almost completely uninhabited, except for the lower foothills in the north, which is developed for the production of oil and natural gas in the South Cuyama oil field. A difficult single track follows the main ridge. It is often impassable after storms and may be used only by four-wheel drive cars and off-road motorcycles.
- Mountains in North America
- Mountains in California
- Santa Barbara County