The Granite Mountains are in the eastern Mojave Desert between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40, San Bernardino County, California. The Granites trend north-south and are bounded by the Kelso Dunes to the north, the Providence Mountains to the east, the Van Winkle and Clipper Mountains to the south, and the Bristol Mountains to the west.
This granite range provides a classic example of a pediment geomorphic landscape, rising abruptly out of the desert lowlands, and dominated by Creosote Bush Scrub at its base and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland higher up.
The photographs in the following pages were taken primarily along the Al A. Alanson Trail from the Robert Norris research station. One of the goals for this botany expedition by a group of CNPS botanists was to find and document a disjunct population of manzanita (Arctostaphylos) reported years before by Professor Robert Norris. We were accompanied/lead by UC Reserve manager Jim Andre, and Dr. Mike Vassey, an expert on Arctostaphylos. The Alanson Trail is located within the UC Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, and is closed to unauthorized public access.
All photos copyrighted by David L. Magney 2005.
