From List of National Natural Landmarks, these are the National Natural Landmarks in California. There are 36 in total.[1]
Name | Image | Date | Location | County | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amboy Crater | May 1973 | Amboy 34°32′38″N 115°47′28″W / 34.543889°N 115.791111°W | San Bernardino | A 6,000-year-old volcanic cinder cone, made up of pahoehoe. Its location just off historic U.S. Highway 66 has given many visitors the opportunity to climb a volcano. | |
Anza-Borrego Desert | 1974 | Imperial, Riverside, San Diego | The largest desert state park in the nation. | ||
Audubon Canyon | 1968 | Marin | The largest known nesting area for great blue herons and American egrets on the Pacific Coast. | ||
Año Nuevo State Reserve | 1980 | San Mateo | The only mainland breeding ground for the northern elephant seal in the world. | ||
American River and Phoenix Park Vernal Pools | 1976 | Sacramento | Contains outstanding examples of vernal pools, and blue oak woodlands | ||
Black Chasm Cave | 1976 | Amador | A small three-level cave containing an outstanding variety of speleothems and some of the best helictite formations in the West. | ||
Burney Falls | 1984 | Shasta | Contains some of the best examples in the western United States of a river drainage regulated by stratigraphically-controlled springs, and of a waterfall formed by undercutting of horizontal rock layers. | ||
Cinder Cone Natural Area | 1973 | Mojave National Preserve | San Bernardino | A complex of over 20 large cinder cones of recent origin with extensive and continuous lava flows. | |
Cosumnes River Preserve | 1976 | Sacramento | A small remnant of a rapidly disappearing riparian woodland community type that once formed a major part of the central California valley. | ||
Deep Springs Marsh | 1975 | Inyo | An example of increasingly rare desert marsh. | ||
Dixon Vernal Pools | 1987 | Solano | The best example of valley needlegrass grassland in the Great Central valley. | ||
Elder Creek | 1964 | Mendocino | A largely undisturbed watershed containing large old stands of Douglas fir, broadleaf evergreens, and deciduous trees. | ||
Emerald Bay | 1968 | El Dorado | An outstanding example of glacial geology. | ||
Eureka Dunes | 1983 | Inyo | The tallest dune complex in the Great Basin. | ||
Fish Slough | 1975 | Inyo, Mono | A large, essentially undisturbed desert wetland that provides habitat for the endangered Owens pupfish. | ||
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes | 1974 | San Luis Obispo | The largest relatively undeveloped coastal dune tract in California. Includes off-highway vehicle dune recreation, a national wildlife refuge, beaches, and nesting for the western snowy plover. | ||
Imperial Sand Hills | 1966 | Imperial | One of the largest dune patches in the United States. | ||
Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks | 2006 | Orange | A remarkably complete stratigraphic succession ranging in age from late Cretaceous to the present. | ||
Lake Shasta Caverns | May 2012 | Shasta | An extraordinarily well-decorated solution cave that contains an especially diverse assemblage of calcite cave formations. | ||
Miramar Mounds | 1972 | San Diego | Contains unique soil features called mima mounds, which are found in only three or four locations in the country. | ||
Mitchell Caverns and its "Winding Stair" cave | 1975 | San Bernardino | The most important solution caverns known in the Mohave Desert. | ||
Mt. Diablo State Park | 1982 | Contra Costa | Geologic strata of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary age can be seen in an aggregate thickness of 42,000 feet (13,000 m). | ||
Mount Shasta | 1976 | Siskiyou | One of the world's largest and most impressive stratovolcanoes. | ||
Pixley Vernal Pools | 1987 | Tulare | One of the few remaining natural vernal pools containing rare endemic plant species. | ||
Point Lobos | 1967 | Monterey | An outstanding example of terrestrial and marine environments in close association. | ||
Pygmy Forest at Van Damme State Park | 1969 | Mendocino | A unique forest of low, stunted trees and shrubs. | ||
Rainbow Basin | 1966 | San Bernardino | Deep erosion canyons with rugged rims. | ||
La Brea Tar Pits (Rancho La Brea) | 1964 | Los Angeles | Site of the world-famous natural asphalt tar pits. | ||
San Andreas Fault | 1965 | San Benito | One of the best illustrations of earth displacement caused by small crustal movements. | ||
San Felipe Creek | 1974 | Imperial San Diego | Probably the last remaining perennial natural desert stream in the Colorado Desert region. | ||
Sand Ridge Wildflower Preserve | 1984 | Kern | A remnant natural area displaying a great diversity of floral species. | ||
Sharktooth Hill | 1976 | Kern | One of the most abundant, diverse and well- preserved fossil marine vertebrate sites in the world. | ||
Tijuana River Estuary | 1973 | San Diego | One of the finest remaining saltwater marshes on the California coastline. | ||
Torrey Pines State Reserve | 1977 | San Diego | Contains a unique and undisturbed biological community supporting endangered bird species. | ||
Trona Pinnacles | 1967 | San Bernardino | A relict landform from the Pleistocene containing unique formations of calcium carbonate. | ||
Turtle Mountain | 1973 | San Bernardino | Contains two mountain sections of entirely different composition. |
References
- ^ "National Natural Landmarks Program, California". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-01-04.