- Caliente Range
Home to the highest peak in
San Luis Obispo County , the 1556 meter (5106 foot)Caliente Mountain , the Caliente Range is a west-east trending zone of uplift along thePacific Coast Ranges .Geologic setting
The range is an anticlinal structure with a sharp southern boundary defined by the Morales Thrust Fault, along which runs the
Cuyama River . TheCuyama Valley separates the Caliente Range from theSierra Madre Mountains in neighboringSanta Barbara County . To the northeast, the range is bounded by theCarrizo Plain . To the northwest, the range is abutted by the La Panza andSanta Lucia Range s, two northwest-southeast trending units of the Coast Ranges.The rocks of the Caliente range are dominated by marine and terrestrial sedimentary deposits laid down over the last 30 million years. Within them are some volcanic units, prominent particularly in the foothills beginning at the Carrizo plain. These volcanic rocks are of
Tertiary age, and are mostly basalt. [Jennings, Geologic Map of California, Los Angeles Sheet]Land use and accessibility
Most of the Caliente Range is public land, owned by the
Bureau of Land Management . Portions are privately owned, and some of the foothills to the northeast are within the domain of theCarrizo Plain National Monument .The peak is accessible to non-motorized traffic via a gated road. The skeleton of an old cabin remains on the peak. This cabin was a lookout point during the Second World War, as an observer on this prominent peak would have been able to see and report Japanese airplanes coming inland to bomb the important oil fields in Kern County. Dips and rises along the ridgeline road leading to the lookout point equal about 2,700 feet in elevation gain in the course of the 17-mile round-trip journey from the locked gate to the peak and back.
Climate
The higher peaks of the range get more precipitation than the lowlands due to
orographic lift of passing storms. Some snow falls on the highest parts of the range.References
* Charles W. Jennings and Rudolph G. Strand. "Geologic Map of California, Los Angeles Sheet." State of California, Division of Mines and Geology. 1969.
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