Klamath Mountains

As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains have a varied geology, with substantial areas of serpentinite and marble, and a climate characterized by moderately cold winters with very heavy snowfall and warm, very dry summers with limited rainfall, especially in the south.

[2][3] As a consequence of the geology and soil types, the mountains harbor several endemic or near-endemic trees, forming one of the largest collections of conifers in the world.

One of the principal plant communities in the Klamath Mountains is Mediterranean California Lower Montane Black Oak-Conifer Forest.

[17] The ecoregion includes several endemic or near-endemic species, such as Port Orford cedar or Lawson's cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana spp.

The region also has several edaphic plant communities, adapted to specific soil types, notably serpentine outcrops.

John O. Sawyer and Dale Thornburgh discovered 17 species of conifers in 1 square mile (2.6 km2) around Little Duck Lake and Sugar Creek in the Russian Wilderness.

The Westernmost stand of Quaking Aspen trees is located in the northern portion of the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness .

[28][29][30] California's northernmost stand of gray pine (Pinus sabiniana) is found here along the South Fork of the Salmon River.

[31] The vast forested wildlands, coupled with a low rate of human settlement in the rugged remote terrain, provides excellent habitat for a number of species.

[3] Grizzly bears, gray wolves, and mule deer once inhabited the area, but were extirpated by European settlers.

Over the next 10 years the number and placement of reintroduced animals was expanded, and now elk can be seen roaming throughout the Marble Mountain Wilderness, Trinity Alps Wilderness, in the northern Siskiyou Mountains, along the South Fork of the Salmon River, and in small numbers near Trinity Lake and Reading Creek.

Mount Ashland , the highest point of the Siskiyou Mountains
Russian Peak and whitebark pine
Red fox ( Vulpes vulpes )
Rafters on the Rogue River in the northern Klamath Mountains in southwestern Oregon