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Red Rock Canyon State Park

Red Rock Canyon State Park.Stony Kiss

This article is about the State Park in Kern County, California. For other uses, see Red Rock Canyon.

Coordinates: 35°22′23″N 117°59′26″W / 35.372985°N 117.990686°W / 35.372985; -117.990686 Red Rock Canyon State Park features scenic desert cliffs, buttes and spectacular rock formations. The park is located where the southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada converge with the El Paso Mountains.

Each tributary canyon is unique, with vivid colors. After wet winters, the park's floral displays are notable. Wildlife includes roadrunners, hawks, lizards, mice and squirrels.

Red Rock Canyon is an approximately 27,000 acres (110 km²) unit within the Mojave Sector of the Tehachapi District of the California State Park System, located along State Highway 14 in Kern County, about 80 miles (129 km) east of Bakersfield and 25 miles (40 km) north of Mojave. Red Rock Canyon provides magnificent views of the pristine desert landscape, includes two natural preserves, and offers, among other recreation activities, camping, sightseeing, equestrian activities, hiking, and opportunities for reflection and solitude.

Location

It is located on State Route 14, which connects U.S. Route 395 with the communities of Southern California, where 14 is known as the Antelope Valley Freeway. The park is 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Mojave on SR 14. SR 14 goes through the center of the park, in the canyon itself. No tourist facilities are available. It is not far from Cantil, California.

History and Natural History

The area was once home to the Kawaiisu Indians. Some petroglyphs and pictographs are found in the El Paso mountains and represent the ritual sites from the Coso People ancestors. The Coso People were early Native American inhabitants of this locale. They created extensive carvings in rock within the El Paso and neighboring mountains of Red Rock Canyon.^[1] and conducted considerable trade with other tribes as distant as the Chumash on the Pacific coast.^[2]

The colorful rock formations in the park served as landmarks during the early 1870s for 20-mule team freight wagons that stopped for water. The park protects significant paleontology sites and the remains of 1890s-era mining operations.

1933

April 15, 1999

Between these two photographs, 66 years have elapsed. In the 1933 picture Red Rock Canyon was on U.S. Route 6, a well-traveled route from Bishop to Los Angeles along the east side of the Sierra Nevada. The scenery at this point in the road eventually led to the creation of Red Rock Canyon State Park in 1968. A dirt road crosses the center of the view.

In the 1999 photo, a total of 17 species are now present in the foreground. No Yuccas or other plants have persisted over the 66 years between the dates of the photographs. In most of the repeat photography, few Yuccas appear to live longer than about 40 years. Many more plants appear in the 1999 view, partially in response to decreased disturbance as well as increased precipitation in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, the road that previously crossed the foreground is difficult to detect. The foreground of this view is geomorphically active, and small rills and gullies cross parts of the foreground. Young geomorphic surfaces, such as that portrayed in this 1999 view, support young plant assemblages that recover relatively quickly following cessation of disturbance.

Filming Location

Due to its unique features and proximity to Los Angeles, Red Rock Canyon has frequently been used as a filming location for motion pictures, television series, advertisements, and rock videos. Such diverse movies as The Mummy (1932),Jurassic Park, Missile to the Moon, The Car, Westworld, Airwolf as well as many westerns such as The Outlaw were filmed here. The 2005 music video Cater 2 U by Destiny's Child was also filmed at this location.

See also

• List of California state parks

References

• Campbell Grant, James W. Baird and J. Kenneth Pringle. 1968. Rock drawings of the Coso Range, Inyo County, California: an ancient sheep-hunting cult pictured in desert rock carvings, second edition, Maturango Press, 145 pages
• Alan P. Garfinkel. 2004. Dating "Classic" Coso Style Sheep Petroglyphs in the Coso Range and El Paso Mountains: Implications for Regional Prehistory, v.2/15/04
• C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Morro Creek, ed. by A. Burnham [1]
• California Department of Parks & Recreation
• Information from DesertUSA
• USGS Repeat Photography for the Mojave Desert
• Red Rock Canyon State Park (California)

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