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Old Women Mountains Wilderness is a wilderness area located south of Essex, California. This 183,538-acre (743 km²) wilderness was established in 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The area consists of bajadas (extensive flat aprons of alluvium) and the massive, fault-lifted Old Woman Mountains that extend some 35 miles (56 km) north-south and up to 28 miles (45 km) in an east-west direction. The elevations within the wilderness range from 800 feet in the drainage bottoms to over 5300 feet at the top of Old Woman Peak. The mountains take their name from a granite monolith resembling the figure of an old woman, known as the Old Woman Statue (5,000 feet high).
The Old Woman Mountains Wilderness falls within a transition zone between the Lower Colorado and Mojave deserts and encompasses many different habitat types. Creosote bush scrub dominates the lower elevations, grading into mixed desert scrub at middle elevations with juniper-pinyon woodland at the higher elevations. The dry washes are characterized by catclaw acacia, cheesebush, desert lavender, little-leaf ratany, and desert almond.
Wildlife is typical for the Mojave Desert; including a permanent population of bighorn sheep, mule deer, bobcat, cougar, coyote, black-tailed jackrabbit, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, quail, chuckar, roadrunners, rattlesnakes, and several species of lizards. Numerous raptor species are likely to be found in the area; including prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, Cooper's hawks, American kestrels, as well as several species of owls. The washes and canyons provide good habitat for several species of songbirds, and the bird densities and diversity is further enhanced by the presence of the known 24 springs and seeps.
The bajadas provide excellent desert tortoise habitat; 49,683 acres (201 km²) of the wilderness area have been identified as critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.
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Ecological Reserves: Albany Mudflats • Alkali Sink • Allensworth • Atascadero Creek Marsh • Bair Island • Baldwin Lake • Batiquitos Lagoon • Blue Sky • Boden Canyon • Boggs Lake • Bolsa Chica • Bonny Doon • Buena Vista Lagoon • Butler Slough • Butte Creek Canyon • Butte Creek House • Buttonwillow • By Day Creek • Calhoun Cut • Canebrake • Carlsbad Highlands • Carmel Bay • Carrizo Canyon • Carrizo Plains • China Point • Clover Creek • Coachella Valley • Coal Canyon • Corte Madera Marsh • Crestridge • Dairy Mart Ponds • Dales Lake • Del Mar Landing • Elkhorn Slough • Estelle Mountain • Fall River Mills • Fish Slough • Fremont Valley • Goleta Slough • Indian Joe Spring • Kaweah • Kerman • King Clone • Laguna Laurel • Loch Lomond Vernal Pool • Lokern • Magnesia Spring • Marin Islands • Mattole River • McGinty Mountain • Morro Dunes • Morro Rock • Napa River • North Table Mountain • Oasis Spring • Panoche Hills • Peytonia Slough • Piute Creek • Pleasant Valley • Point Lobos • Rancho Jamul • Redwood Shores • River Springs Lakes • Saline Valley • San Dieguito Lagoon • San Elijo Lagoon • San Felipe Creek • San Joaquin River • Santa Rosa Plateau • Springville • Stone Corral • Sycamore Canyon • Sycuan Peak • Thomes Creek • Tomales Bay • Upper Newport Bay • Watsonville Slough • West Mojave Desert • Woodbridge • Yaudanchi
Marine Protected Areas: Abalone Cove • Agua Hedionda Lagoon • Albany Mudflats • Anacapa • Anacapa • Año Nuevo • Asilomar • Atascadero Beach • Bair Island • Batiquitos Lagoon • Big Creek • Big Creek • Big Sycamore Canyon • Bodega • Bolsa Chica • Buena Vista Lagoon • Cambria • Cardiff and San Elijo • Carmel Bay • Carmel Pinnacles • Carrington Point • Catalina Marine Science Center • Corte Madera Marsh • Crystal Cove • Dana Point • Del Mar Landing • Doheny • Doheny • Duxbury Reef • Edward F. Ricketts • Elkhorn Slough • Elkhorn Slough • Encinitas • Estero de Limantour • Fagan Marsh • Farallon Islands • Farnsworth Bank • Fort Ross • Gerstle Cove • Goleta Slough • Greyhound Rock • Gull Island • Harris Point • Heisler Park • Hopkins • Irvine Coast • James V. Fitzgerald • Judith Rock • Julia Pfeiffer Burns • La Jolla • Laguna Beach • Lovers Cove (Catalina Island) • Lovers Point • MacKerricher • Manchester and Arena Rock • Marin Islands • Mia J. Tegner • Moro Cojo Slough • Morro Bay • Morro Bay • Morro Beach • Natural Bridges • Niguel • Pacific Grove Marine Gardens • Painted Cave • Peytonia Slough • Piedras Blancas • Piedras Blancas • Pismo • Pismo-Oceano Beach • Point Buchon • Point Buchon • Point Cabrillo • Point Fermin • Point Lobos • Point Reyes Headlands • Point Sur • Point Sur • Portuguese Ledge • Punta Gorda • Redwood Shores • Refugio • Richardson Rock • Robert E. Badham • Robert W. Crown • Russian Gulch • Salt Point • San Diego-Scripps • San Dieguito Lagoon • San Elijo Lagoon • Santa Barbara Island • Scorpion • Skunk Point • Sonoma Coast • Soquel Canyon • South Laguna Beach • South Point • Tomales Bay • Upper Newport Bay • Van Damme • Vandenberg • White Rock (Cambria)
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Año Nuevo Island • Bodega Marine • Box Springs • Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center • Burns Piñon Ridge • Carpinteria Salt Marsh • Chickering American River • Coal Oil Point • Dawson Los Monos Canyon • Eagle Lake Field Station • Elliott Chaparral • Emerson Oaks • Fort Ord • Hastings • James San Jacinto Mountains • Jenny Pygmy Forest • Jepson Prairie • Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh • Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino • Landels-Hill Big Creek • McLaughlin • Motte Rimrock • Quail Ridge • Sagehen Creek Field Station • San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh • Santa Cruz Island • Scripps Coastal • Sedgwick • Stebbins Cold Canyon • Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains • Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center • Valentine Eastern Sierra • Younger Lagoon
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