Providence Mountains State Recreation Area

On approaching the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area one can see layers of tilted grey rock that are ancient limestone formed during the Paleozoic Era.

The habitat dramatically shifts with elevations above 4000 feet to a sky island where numerous animals and plants flourish in the added moisture caught by the mountains.

The plant habitat includes forests of single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and California juniper (Juniperus californica), and remnant chaparral and woodlands with oaks (Quercus turbinella) and manzanita in these higher parts of the mountains.

The Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is located at the north-western end of Essex Road, off of Interstate 40 (the Needles Freeway).

Providence Mountains State Recreation Area and Mitchell Caverns reopened on November 3, 2017, after being closed for nearly seven years due to major infrastructure upgrades.