Castle Mountains, Proposed Mojave National Preserve Addition

Castle Mountains; © Barnes Miller

Size: Approximately 29,412 acres

Management Agency: Bureau of Land Management, Needles Field Office

Location: Along the California‐Nevada border approximately 12 miles southwest of Searchlight, NV.

Maps: BLM Desert Access Guide Ivanpah

Landscape and History

The Castle Mountains area is a critical linkage between the Piute Mountains and the New York Mountains, to ensure the long‐term survival of plants such as Joshua trees and multiple wildlife species, including desert bighorn sheep. Surrounded on three sides by the Mojave National Preserve, this area is the only remaining portion of the 340‐mile Lanfair Valley watershed that is not part of the Preserve. The Castle Mountains’ high‐quality desert habitat includes some of the finest Joshua tree forest in the Mojave Desert, pinyon pine and juniper forest at higher elevations, and a native desert grassland recognized as a “unique plant assemblage” in 1980 by the BLM’s California Desert Conservation Area plan. The scenic view from Hart Mountain looks out over adjacent and contiguous wilderness, including views of many of the highest peaks in the Mojave Desert. The remote nature of this area protects the ability to enjoy increasingly rare natural soundscapes.

Wildlife and Plants

Desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, bobcat, mountain lion, golden eagle, Swainson’s hawk, desert tortoise, gila monster, prairie falcon, Bendire’s thrasher, grey vireo, Townsend’s big‐eared bat, and California leaf‐nosed bat. This area is especially critical to desert bighorn sheep who utilize the area both as habitat and as a wildlife corridor between the water‐poor Piute Mountains and the wetter New York Mountains.

Activity Highlight

Hiking, mountain climbing, and historical interpretation. This “living laboratory” showcases the progression of human history in the Eastern Mojave Desert. There are significant elements of Native American, Western‐American and Mining History, including an obsidian source that provided material found throughout the Mojave, the historic town of Hart, and both the Hart and Viceroy mines.

For More Information

Mike Cipra, CA Desert Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association
mcipra@npca.org | (760) 366 7785