Grass Valley Wilderness
The expansive Grass Valley covers nearly three-fourths of this Wilderness and ranks as its primary topographical feature. The area lies fairly flat, with a series of scattered hills, yellow to reddish brown in color, with elevations from 200 feet to 600 feet above the desert floor to the west. You'll find a few Joshua trees, but the vegetation is dominated by a creosote bush scrub community. Raptors forage here, and desert tortoises and Mojave ground squirrels find suitable habitat in this barren area, which is devoid of both water and trails. The non-wilderness corridor of an old road divides the Wilderness into eastern and western halves, and the China Lake Naval Weapons Center shares the eastern border.
Description from Wilderness Connect (wilderness.net).
| Designation | Wilderness |
| Managed by | Bureau of Land Management |
| State | California |
| Size | 30,186 acres |
| Designated | 1994, by Congress |
| Center point | 35.29° N, 117.33° W |
| Night sky | Very dark ground, a faint glow at most (Black Marble reading 31) |
Boundary map
Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees
The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.
Weather by month
Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.
Where to camp
No federal campground is within ten miles of the boundary in the Campsite Atlas index. Camping inside a wilderness is usually allowed away from trails and water, with no facilities; the managing agency page has the permit and group-size rules.
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Reference
Questions people ask
How big is Grass Valley Wilderness?
30,186 acres.
Source: Wilderness Connect
Who manages Grass Valley Wilderness?
The Bureau of Land Management.
Source: Wilderness Connect
What state is Grass Valley Wilderness in?
California.
Source: Wilderness Connect
When was Grass Valley Wilderness designated?
Congress designated it in 1994.
Source: Wilderness Connect
How do I get to Grass Valley Wilderness?
A point inside the boundary is at 35.292° N, 117.327° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.
Source: Wilderness Connect
Sources
- Boundary, name, acreage, designation year, states and description: Wilderness Connect.
- Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
- Trailheads and sites: the Forest Service Recreation Opportunities layer, points inside the boundary.
- Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
- Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.