Upper Lake Ranger District 10025 Elk Mountain Road Upper Lake, California 95485 (707) 275-2361 (707) 275-9524 http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino/recreation/wild/snowmt/ The Wilderness act of 1984 established 23 new wilderness areas including the 37,000-acre Snow Mountain Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest. The Snow Mountain Wilderness straddles the summit of the North Coast Range within Colusa, Glenn and Lake counties. The area is less than a four-hour drive from San Francisco, Santa Rosa, and Sacramento. The central feature of this wilderness is the large broad topped Snow Mountain, which drains water toward the Sacramento River on the east and the Eel River Basin on the west. Elevations range from 1,800 feet in the gorge of the Middle Fork of Stony Creek to 7,056 feet on the summit of East Snow Mountain Peak. The deep canyons skirting the Wilderness compress ecological life zones creating a unique biological sky-island. Forty miles of trail are located in
the wilderness. This leaves a vast amount
of acreage very remote and highly conducive
to cross-country exploration. The moderate
hike to the top of East Peak affords
visitors a magnificent view of the Sacramento
Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains
to the east, Clear Lake to the southwest,
the Coastal Mountains to the west, and
the timbered mountains of the Mendocino
National Forest to the North. More trail information can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino/recreation/trails/ while all the MSF quandrant maps can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino/maps/quad/ A list of trails can be found at http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-mendocino-national-forest-hiking-sidwcmdev_065917.html |