[3] Clear Lake is to the east and the Russian River Valley and Ukiah are to the west.

[4] Eight Mile Valley on the east side of Cow Mountain Ridge holds a variety of native species in grasslands, oak woodlands, and areas of chaparral.

[5] Cow Mountain and Cow Mountain Ridge got their names from longhorn cattle introduced around 1839 by Salvador Vallejo and later ranched by Ben Kelsey and Andrew Kelsey, which left many rogue cattle roaming the countryside.

Cow Mountain was one of the last refuges for the longhorns, but they had been eliminated by the 1870s by the Hurt family of Scotts Valley.

[2] The ridge extends 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south from Cow Mountain to Lyons Valley.