Fish Creek Mountains Wilderness

Fish Creek Mountains Wilderness is a protected desert area in southeastern California, west of the Imperial Valley, valued for its largely undisturbed scenery and rugged terrain. What appears from afar as a broad plateau gives way to jagged ridges, twisting canyons, small valleys, and steep limestone slopes shaped by erosion and cloudbursts. Water can linger year-round in shaded pockets at the base of narrow rock chutes, creating natural tanks for wildlife. The wilderness also preserves part of the shoreline of ancient Lake Cahuilla, recalling the freshwater lake that once covered the Imperial and Coachella valleys before receding about 500 years ago.

California · United States