Section C. The San Bernardino Mountains | ||
| Fig. 1. Pictures to be added. | ||
Introduction
Trail Sections With Links to the Plant Checklists
Introduction
See The Flora of the Pacific Crest Trail: Overview for an Introduction to these plant checklists.
This section of the trail starts on the north side of I-10, traversing a residential area until it gets to the Cottonwood trailhead (elevation 1850 feet). The trail then proceeds through Gold Canyon past the windmill farms. It enters the Whitewater drainage, then the Mission Fork drainage in which it climbs up the south-east side of the San Bernardino Mountains. It reaches a high point of 8600 feet and stays in the conifer forest as it traverses the range. The trail slowly descends as you head eastward in the mountain range and changes to chaparral. The trail then follows Deep Creek drainage for a while before passing by Silverwood Lake. The elevation at the end of this section at Interstate 15 is 3000 feet. Table 1 gives the subsections of the trail, with the name linked to the online plant guide when the guide is available.
Fig. 2. Trail Map for the PCT through the San Bernardino Mountains, from USDA Forest Service Interactive Map.
Trail Sections With Links to the Plant Checklists
The Section Description name will be linked to the plant checklists as they become available.
The C sections were renumbered in 2014, and hence the target of the links may still have the old numbering system.
Table 1. Sections of the PCT in the San Bernardino Mountains
| Section Designator | Section Description (linked to checklist) | Length (miles) | Elevations (feet) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min | Max | Range | |||
| C1 | I-10 to Cottonwood trailhead | 2.3 | 1360 | 1840 | 490 |
| C2 | Cottonwood trailhead to Whitewater Canyon | 6.8 | 1840 | 3210 | 1370 |
| C3 | Whitewater Canyon to Mission Springs Trail Camp at road 1N05 | 21.0 | 2285 | 8115 | 8115 |
| C4 | Road 1N05 (near Mission springs trail camp) to Rainbow Road | 9.6 | 8115 | 8100 | 8635 |
| C5 | Rainbow Road to road 2N01 | 5.3 | 8100 | 7885 | 8635 |
| C6 | Road 2N01 to Highway 18 | 10.4 | 7885 | 6829 | 7885 |
| C7 | Highway 18 to Van Dusen road 3N09 | 8.9 | 6829 | 7260 | 7630 |
| C8 | Van Dusen road 3N09 to road 3N14 | 10.7 | 7260 | 6510 | 7755 |
| C9 | Road 3N14 to Deep Creek Bridge (near Splinter’s cabin) | 12.8 | 6510 | 4580 | 6510 |
| C10 | Deep Creek Bridge (near Splinter’s cabin) to Highway 173 | 15.9 | 4580 | 3190 | 4580 |
| C11 | Highway 173 to Highway 138 (Silverwood lake exit) | 15.4 | 3190 | 3395 | 3580 |
| C12 | Highway 138 (Silverwood lake exit) to Interstate 15 | 13.6 | 3395 | 3000 | 4160 |
The elevation profile of segments C1 through C12 is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. The approximate elevation vs. distance for the PCT in the San Bernardino Mountains from south to north (east to west in most of the area)