Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | Wild Horse Canyon Road - Mojave National Preserve |
| Tom Schweich |
Topics in this Article: Road Log Literature Cited |
This file
describes Wild Horse Canyon Road,
from its north end on Black Canyon Road near Mid Hills Campground,
to its south end also on Black Canyon Road near Hole-in-the-Wall Campground.
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| Literature Cited: Other Articles: Black Canyon Road: at Wild Horse Canyon Road | Road LogJunction: Black Canyon Road,, north to Cedar Canyon, or south through Black Canyon to Hole-in-the-Wall. |
 Intersection
of Wild Horse Canyon and Black Canyon Roads after Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: … in Round Valley.
This panorama, taken June 27, 2005, after the Hackberry Complex Fire of June 22-25, 2005, shows that much of Round Valley burned as well as a good portion of Pinto Mountain.
| |  Round Valley
near Mid Hills Campground. Locations: Pinto Mountain. Round Valley.
View of Round Valley from Wild Horse Canyon Road near Mid Hills Campground. The vegetation in the foreground is Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) with Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). The primary rock type here is granite, which makes up the rock pile in the center ground. Pinto Mountain is the striped mountain at left. The peaks of the New York Mountains can be seen in the distance.
| |  Campground
entrance after Hackberry Fire Complex Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 252005 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
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 Mid Hills
Campground. Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
| Mid Hills CampgroundThe Mid Hills Campground sits along the ridge of the Mid Hills in a Pinyon-Juniper Woodland. Among the established campgrounds, Mid Hills is the nicest. However, it is almost 1000 feet higher than Hole-in-the-Wall, and so can be quite cold in the Winter. |
 Camp site in
the Mid Hills Campground after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 252020 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
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 Camp site in
the Mid Hills Campground after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 252030 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
| |  Large knob of
granite in the Mid Hills near Wild Horse Canyon Road.
Large knob of granite in the Mid
Hills. This one had Golden Eagles nesting in a crevice near the top.
| |  Looking south
on Wild Horse Canyon Road from near the Mid Hills Campground.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 15-Oct-05 on Wild Horse Cyn Rd |
|  Scene along Wild Horse Canyon Road near Mid Hills campground.
Scene along the Mid
Hills ridge near Mid Hills campground. Large rounded outcrops of granite are visible through the Singleleaf Pinyons (Pinus monophylla). In the left foreground is the yellowish green of Green Ephedra (Ephedra viridis), and in the right foreground is the dark green foliage of Waxy Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata var. glandulosa).
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Locations: Silver Lead Spring.
| Silver Lead SpringYou can park here and walk down to Silver Lead Spring. It's about 1.5 km, and has a short steep section. The former mine tunnel provides perennial water for wildlife. |  Looking north
on Wild Horse Canyon Road Other Articles: Field Notes: 15-Oct-05 on Wild Horse Cyn Rd North out of
Macedonia Canyon, Wild Horse Canyon Road climbs to Silver Lead Spring and the Mid Hills Campground.
| |  Looking south
on Wild Horse Canyon Road. Other Articles: Field Notes: 15-Oct-05 on Wild Horse Cyn Rd South from Silver
Lead Spring, Wild Horse Canyon Road descends into the head of Macedonia Canyon.
| |  Vegetation
along the Mid Hills ridgeline.
General view of vegetation along the Mid Hills ridgeline between Macedonia Canyon and Silver Lead Spring. A few Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) grow on the ridgeline and a little to the southwest, but this is the southwestern limit of Joshua trees in the Mid Hills. Columbia Mountain, namesake of the U.S.G.S. quadrangle, can be seen behind the pinyon (Pinus monophylla) on the ridgeline.
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Other species common at this location are Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), Buckhorn Cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa), California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium), Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), and Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata var. glandulosa).
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 Gopher snake
on Wild Horse Canyon Road. Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050529025
We saw this snake on Wild Horse Canyon Road in May 2005. |
|  Vegetation along Wild Horse Canyon Road, in the head of Macedonia Canyon.
Vegetation along Wild Horse Canyon Road, in the head of Macedonia Canyon.
Vegetation along Wild
Horse Canyon Road, in the head of Macedonia Canyon. The large dark gray bushes in the foreground wash are Desert Almond (Prunus fasciculata), and the smaller yellowish bushes are Sticky Snakeweed (Gutierrezia microcephala). There are Utah Junipers (Juniperus osteosperma) and a few Singleleaf Pinyons (Pinus monophylla) on the slopes above the wash, but no Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) are found at this location on the southeast slope of the Mid Hills. | Difficult to see in the lower picture, but nevertheless still there, are numerous Blue Yucca (Yucca baccata) and Mohave Yucca (Y. schidigera) growing together. | Other Articles: Macedonia Canyon: Junction Locations: Macedonia Canyon.
| Junction:Junction: Macedonia Canyon. |  Prospect
trenches at the Silver Buddy Mine. Other Articles: Eastern Mojave Geology: Unable to find an article page. Locations: Silver Buddy Mine. | Silver Buddy MineThe Silver Buddy Mine is about 2 miles west of Wild Horse Canyon Road. It's in a wilderness area so you have to walk. The miners have left these four horrible gashes in the earth that probably won't heal within a human lifetime. |  Willow
Well. Locations: Willow Well.
Willow Well is one of many wells dug and maintained by cattle ranchers in the eastern Mojave. The "willow" is actually Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) a member of the tropical family Bignoniaceae (Catalpa Family). When this picture was taken, March 1998, the willows were still dormant and so they are the large gray shrubs around the tank. At an elevation of 1475 m, Willow Well is about the highest elevation I have observed the Desert Willow to grow. The boulders in the foreground are Precambrian gneiss.
| |  Mound Cactus
(Echinocereus triglochidiatus).
Mound Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus), sometimes also called Claret Cup Cactus, grows in the rocks in the
canyons along Wild Horse Canyon Road. My impression is that the species is more common on the Precambrian schist and gneiss, but I have no data to support that conclusion. Occasionally the species can be found on alluvial soils.
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 Locations: Columbia Mountain.
View looking north along Wild Horse Canyon Road.
Columbia Mountain is in the center background.
Willow Well is in the wash on the left (west) side of the road.
The rocks here are Precambrian gneiss and schist.
| | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Glossary: adamellite breccia gneiss
This outcrop of tectonic breccia alongside Wild Horse Canyon Road contains Mid Hills adamellite with tumbled blocks of Precambrian gneiss (Reynolds and Reynolds, 1995).
| |  View south along Wild Horse Canyon Road.
Locations: Wild Horse Mesa. | Wild Horse MesaView looking south along Wild Horse Canyon Road. Wild Horse Mesa is on the right (west) side of the road. The rock layers on the side of the mesa are welded and airfall tuffs. |  North slope of Wild Horse Mesa. Other Articles: Swertia albomarginata: on north face of Wild Horse Mesa at Wild Horse Mesa The
north slope of Wild Horse Mesa is just west of Wild Horse Canyon Road. This is the one of the locations of my study plots for Swertia albomarginata. Be sure to respect wilderness boundaries, as this road is a "cherry stem" into a wilderness area. Better yet, park your car on Wild Horse Canyon Road and walk.
| |  The north
face of Wild Horse Mesa after the Hackberry Complex Fire, June 22-25, 2005.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232310 Locations: Wild Horse Mesa.
The north face of Wild Horse Mesa and upper Wild Horse Canyon were almost completely burned by the Hackberry Complex Fire, June 22-25, 2005.
| | Other Articles: Lobo Point Road: at Wild Horse Canyon Road Winkler's Cabin Road: at Wild Horse Cyn Rd and Lobo Pt Rd. Junction:
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The north slope of Wild Horse Mesa is one of three places in the eastern
Mojave where the informally named
"Winkler Formation" crops out.
The other two locations are Pinto Mountain and Hackberry Mountain.
| |  Looking south
into Wild Horse Canyon. Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232550 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon. This photograph is
looking south into Wild Horse Canyon after the Hackberry Complex Fire of June 22-25, 2005. While the flat in the foreground is completely burned, there are some very large unburned patches on the slopes of the mesa.
| | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Glossary: welded_tuff Locations: Lobo Point. | Lobo PointLobo Point in the early morning. The dark layer is welded tuff of the Wild Horse Mesa Formation (McCurry,1985), which is faulted underneath the landslide seen in left center. The light colored rock below is an air fall tuff, also a unit of the Hole in the Wall Formation. Many species of birds nest in the cliffs of Lobo Point. |
 Sun setting on Barber Mountain. Locations: Barber Mountain.
Sun setting on Barber Mountain. This view looks east, and Hole in the Wall is on the other side of the mountain. This mountain is not formally named "Barber Mountain," but the Barber VABM is located on top. The climb to the top is about 300 meters and takes about an hour.
| |  Sunset at Lobo Point after a rainstorm.
Locations: Lobo Point. Sunset at Lobo Point after a
rainstorm. This photo was taken in March, 1998, after a strong, warm El Niño rain.
| |  Wild Horse
Mesa. A
small group of hikers discuss the next destination, while standing on the north rim of Wild Horse Mesa. A few Utah Junipers (Juniperus osteosperma), a Blue Yucca (Yucca baccata), some small shrubs and some grasses grow in the rocky surface of the mesa.
| |  Century
Plant (Agave desertii), western edge of Wild Horse Mesa.
Century Plant (Agave desertii) growing on the western edge of Wild Horse Mesa. This is about as far north as Agave desertii is found. There is a small colony here growing out of crevices in the rocks right on the edge of the mesa. In the right foreground is Buckhorn Cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa). On the left is Blue Yucca (Yucca baccata).
| |  Barrel Cactus
(Ferocactus cyindraceus).
This is me pretending to drape my arm across a California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) at the rock shelter on Wild Horse Mesa. Photograph taken in 1979. I don't look dorky like this anymore.
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The upper section of lower Wild Horse Canyon was completely burned by the Hackberry Complex Fire, June 22-25, 2005, except for some small patches on the other side of the wash and up near the rim of the mesa.
| |  Near the top
of lower Wild Horse Canyon Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232540 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon. The upper Wild Horse
Canyon has several areas with well-developed pediments. This one burned completely in the Hackberry Complex Fire.
| |  Archeological
site SBr-292. Other Articles: Glossary: breccia
This rock shelter in Wild Horse Canyon is known as archeological site SBr-292. It has been pretty well studied so there are no artifacts to find, though. Unique to this site are the trees at low elevation in the canyon. There are Pinyons (Pinus monophylla) and Canyon Live Oaks (Quercus chrysolepis) growing in the northwest shade provided by outcrops of mud flow breccia.
| |  Burned slopes
in mid-Wild Horse Canyon. Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232530 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon. This rock outcrop is
a well-known archeological site. The Hackberry Complex Fire of June 22-25, 2005, burned this rock outcrop, but was stopped by the wash and road.
| |  Wild Horse
Canyon Road. Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
Wild Horse Canyon Road in the lower part of the canyon, view looking northwest, and up the canyon. At this location, Wild Horse Canyon Road drops off the bajada, and into the wash.
A thicket of Mohave Yucca (Yucca schidigera) can be seen on the right side of the road. The road passes between the two outcrops of mud flow breccia (lahar) seen in the middle distance. The east side of Wild Horse Mesa is seen in the background.
| |  Patchy areas burned on the slopes of Wild Horse Mesa.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232520 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
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 Archeological
site in lower Wild Horse Canyon. Other Articles: FAQ: N0430800 Glossary: petroglyph pictograph tafoni welded_tuff
This archeological site in lower Wild Horse Canyon is formed inside a hollowed-out boulder of welded tuff. The hollow weathering features are called "tafoni." They are common in rocks of this type (fine-grained, acid composition) and this climate (arid to semi-arid). Both petroglyphs and pictographs are found here.
| |  Petroglyphs
inside the hollowed-out boulder.
|  Petroglyphs inside the hollowed-out boulder. The petroglyph in the center has received a lot of attention by potential interpreters of petroglyphs.
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 Pictograph
at archeological site in Wild Horse Canyon.
Pictograph at the archeological site in Wild Horse Canyon. Pictographs are painted on the rocks with pigments, while petroglyphs are designed pecked into rocks.
| |  Silver cholla
(Opuntia echinocarpa) in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
Silver cholla (Opuntia echinocarpa) in lower Wild Horse Canyon. Silver cholla appears to be limited by elevation and isn't found at higher elevations.
| |  Mohave Yucca
(Yucca schidigera) in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
Mohave Yucca (Yucca schidigera) in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
| | Literature Cited: Miocene rhyolitic
dome in lower Wild Horse Canyon. McCurry (1985) identified this structure as the oldest Miocene volcanic structure in the eastern Mojave.
| |  Musing about trails in Mojave National Preserve. 
Wild Horse Canyon Trailhead
At the south end of Wild Horse Canyon is a formal trailhead for a trail that goes north approximately 10 km to Mid Hills campground. The trail was always there, what has changed is the formal designation as a "trail." I guess we need trails since it's a national park. I just think there are some better places to mark and build trails.
| |  Blue Yucca
(Yucca baccata) in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
Blue Yucca (Yucca baccata) in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
| |  Patchy burned areas in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: 232510 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
The Hackberry Complex Fire came down this face of Wild Horse Mesa in the lower canyon, leaving patchy areas unburned. Photograph taken June 27, 2005 by Phil Woodall.
| |  Banshee
Canyon from below. Other Articles: Field Notes: 20040522050 Locations: Hole-in-the-Wall.
At the very lower end of Wild Horse Canyon is a spur road that leads into the lower end of Banshee Canyon. You can climb through this canyon and come out at the Hole in the Wall picnic area.
| | Other Articles: Black Canyon Road: at Wild Horse Cyn Rd Junction: Black Canyon Road,
north past Hole in the Wall and through Black Canyon, or south to Essex Road and a park exit.
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| Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
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| Burn Area Emergency Response Team. 2005. Burned Area Emergency Stabilization Plan: Hackberry Complex. Primm, Nevada: National-Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response Team, July 5, 2005. Location records referred to by this literature:
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| McCurry, Michael O. 1985. The Petrology of the Woods Mountains Volcanic Center, San Bernardino County, California. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.. Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Reynolds, Robert E. and Jennifer Reynolds. 1995. Ancient Surfaces of the East Mojave Desert: A volume and field trip guide prepared in conjunction with the 1995 Desert Research Symposium,. San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly. 42(3). {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
If you have a
question or a comment you may write to me at: tas4@schweich.com I sometimes post
interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.
| | Date and time this article was prepared: 5/8/2008 9:41:01 AM |
