Wild Lands & Rivers
Beauty Mountain Proposed Wilderness
Size: Approximately 15,621 acres
Management Agency: Bureau of Land Management
Location: Riverside County, 2 miles south of the Cahuilla Indian Reservation, west of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Description:
The Beauty Mountain Proposed Wilderness encompasses a series of steep mountains and twisted canyons with elevations ranging from 3,300 feet along the deepest streams to 5,548 feet atop the Beauty Mountain itself.
As the name implies, Beauty Mountain is a scenic jewel draped in chaparral, fascinating rock formations and oak woodlands. The area is an ecological transition zone between Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on the east and the endangered coastal sage scrub habitat of the Coast Range on the west. As such, it serves as a critical bridge for migrating wildlife in a rapidly urbanizing region. The Bureau of Land Management considers Beauty Mountain’s Million Dollar Spring to be one of the most pristine watersheds in all of southwestern California.
The California Riding and Hiking Trail crosses the area. On warm spring days, visitors are greeted with the scents of sage, manzanita and California lilac, while hill after misty hill rises in the distance, presenting an unbroken view of wild country.