Peakbagger.com
Peak Lists	Climbers	Ranges	Geography	Help	Search	Log In

Method:: Clean | Average | Optimisitic

California Wilderness High Points

Showing John Vitz's first ascent dates for climbed peaks

Rank	Wilderness	Peak	Elev-Ft	Range (Level 4)	Ascent Date
1.	Sheephole Valley	Sheep Hole Mountains High Point	4613	Mojave Desert Ranges	1965-05-10
2.	Sequoia-Kings Canyon	Mount Whitney	14,495	Sequoia Sierra Nevada	1965-09-11
2.	John Muir	Mount Whitney	14,495	Sequoia Sierra Nevada	1965-09-11
4.	Joshua Tree	Quail Mountain	5813	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1965-11-28
5.	Palen/McCoy	Granite Mountain	4331	Mojave Desert Ranges	1966-02-12
6.	Orocopia Mountains	Orocopia Mountains High Point	3815	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1966-03-05
7.	Trilobite	Marble Mountains High Point	3842	Mojave Desert Ranges	1966-03-19
8.	Death Valley	Telescope Peak	11,048	West Great Basin Ranges	1966-04-23
9.	South Sierra	Olancha Peak	12,123	Southern Sierra Nevada	1966-06-19
10.	Yosemite	Mount Lyell	13,114	Yosemite-Ritter Sierra Nevada	1966-07-17
11.	San Gorgonio	San Gorgonio Mountain	11,499	Transverse Ranges	1966-10-16
12.	Manly Peak	Manly Peak	7195	West Great Basin Ranges	1966-12-27
13.	Mojave	Clark Mountain	7907	Mojave Desert Ranges	1967-02-04
14.	Nopah Range	Nopah Range High Point	6394	South Great Basin Ranges	1967-03-04
15.	Kingston Range	Kingston Peak	7336	Mojave Desert Ranges	1968
16.	Whipple Mountains	Whipple Mountains High Point	4130	Mojave Desert Ranges	1968
17.	Big Maria Mountains	Big Maria Mountains High Point	3381	Mojave Desert Ranges	1968-01-27
18.	Old Woman Mountains	Old Woman Mountain	5325	Mojave Desert Ranges	1968-02-26
19.	Golden Trout	Cirque Peak	12,900	Sequoia Sierra Nevada	1968-05-18
20.	Ansel Adams	Mount Ritter	13,143	Yosemite-Ritter Sierra Nevada	1968-06-23
21.	Inyo Mountains	Waucoba Mountain	11,123	West Great Basin Ranges	1969
22.	Turtle Mountains	Turtle Mountains High Point	4298	Mojave Desert Ranges	1969
23.	Sespe	Reyes Peak	7514	Transverse Ranges	1971
24.	San Jacinto State Wilderness	San Jacinto Peak	10,839	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1971-06-26
25.	Pleasant View Ridge	Mount Lewis	8396	Transverse Ranges	1971-08-28
26.	Chuckwalla Mountains	Black Butte	4504	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1971-12-04
27.	Mount Shasta	Mount Shasta	14,162	California Cascades	1972-07-02
28.	Stepladder Mountains	Stepladder Mountains	2927	Mojave Desert Ranges	1974-03-17
29.	John Krebs	Florence Peak	12,432	Sequoia Sierra Nevada	1974-06-16
30.	Chumash	Sawmill Mountain	8818	Transverse Ranges	1974-06-25
31.	San Gabriel	Waterman Mountain	8038	Transverse Ranges	1974-09-01
32.	Dead Mountains	Mount Manchester	3600	Mojave Desert Ranges	1975-02-15
33.	Chemehuevi Mountains	Chemehuevi Peak	3694	Mojave Desert Ranges	1975-02-16
34.	Sheep Mountain	Mount San Antonio	10,064	Transverse Ranges	1975-08-09
35.	Cucamonga	Telegraph Peak	8985	Transverse Ranges	1975-09-14
36.	Owens Peak	Owens Peak	8453	Southern Sierra Nevada	1975-11-23
37.	Clipper Mountain	Clipper Mountain	4593	Mojave Desert Ranges	1976-02-28
38.	Resting Spring Range	Stewart Point	5266	South Great Basin Ranges	1976-12-12
39.	El Paso Mountains	Black Mountain	5244	Mojave Desert Ranges	1977-02-05
40.	Kiavah	Scodie Mountain	7294	Southern Sierra Nevada	1977-02-06
41.	Granite Mountain	Granite Mountain	8920	West Great Basin Ranges	1977-09-18
42.	Kelso Dunes	Bristol Mountains High Point	3871	Mojave Desert Ranges	1978-02-04
43.	San Jacinto	Tahquitz Peak	8846	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1980
44.	Bighorn Mountain	Tip Top Mountain	7623	Transverse Ranges	1982-06-05
45.	Palo Verde Mountains	Palo Verde Peak	1760	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1982-12-05
46.	South Warner	Eagle Peak	9892	Northwest Great Basin Ranges	1983-07-03
47.	Agua Tibia	Eagle Crag-Southeast Ridge	5080	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1985
48.	Emigrant	Leavitt Peak	11,569	Lake Tahoe-Sonora Pass Sierra Nevada	1985-07-04
49.	Carson-Iceberg	Sonora Peak	11,459	Lake Tahoe-Sonora Pass Sierra Nevada	1985-07-05
50.	Owens River Headwaters	San Joaquin Mountain	11,549	Central Sierra Nevada	1985-08-03
51.	San Rafael	San Rafael Mountain	6593	Transverse Ranges	1986-04-12
52.	Beauty Mountain	Iron Spring Mountain	5755	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1987-02-21
53.	Dick Smith	Big Pine Mountain	6800	Transverse Ranges	1987-04-12
54.	Hoover	Mount Conness	12,590	Yosemite-Ritter Sierra Nevada	1988-08-20
55.	Malpais Mesa	Malpais Mesa High Point	7731	West Great Basin Ranges	1989-03-18
56.	Bristol Mountains	Old Dad Mountains High Point	3914	Mojave Desert Ranges	1990
57.	Cahuilla Mountain	Cahuilla Mountain	5635	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1990-03-04
58.	Golden Valley	Dome Mountain	4974	Mojave Desert Ranges	1992-01-02
59.	Newberry Mountains	Newberry Mountains High Point	5117	Mojave Desert Ranges	1995-03-25
60.	Ventana	Junipero Serra Peak	5862	Central California Coast Ranges	1996-05-04
61.	Piute Mountains	Piute Mountains High Point	4199	Mojave Desert Ranges	1996-12-15
62.	Little Chuckwalla Mountains	Little Chuckwalla Mountains High Point	2160	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1996-12-23
63.	Fish Creek Mountains	Eagle Benchmark	2371	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	1996-12-30
64.	Riverside Mountains	Riverside 2 Benchmark	2254	Mojave Desert Ranges	1997-02-15
65.	Ibex	Ibex Peak	4751	West Great Basin Ranges	1997-03-23
66.	Sylvania Mountains	Sylvania Mountains Wilderness High Point	7970	West Great Basin Ranges	1997-04-26
67.	Mokelumne	Round Top	10,381	Lake Tahoe-Sonora Pass Sierra Nevada	1997-08-26
68.	Bigelow Cholla Garden	Sacramento Mountains High Point	3281	Mojave Desert Ranges	1998-01-17
69.	Hollow Hills	Silver Lake Benchmark	3773	Mojave Desert Ranges	1998-12-12
70.	Rice Valley	West Maria Benchmark	2887	Mojave Desert Ranges	1999-01-24
71.	Black Mountain	Black Mountain	3939	Mojave Desert Ranges	1999-03-13
72.	Snow Mountain	Snow Mountain	7056	Northern California Coast Range	1999-08-10
73.	King Range	King Peak	4088	Northern California Coast Range	1999-08-11
74.	Desolation	Pyramid Peak	9983	Lake Tahoe-Sonora Pass Sierra Nevada	1999-09-12
75.	Granite Chief	Granite Chief	9006	Lake Tahoe-Sonora Pass Sierra Nevada	2000-09-09
76.	Thousand Lakes	Crater Peak	8683	California Cascades	2001-07-15
77.	Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel	South Yolla Bolly Mountain	8094	Northern California Coast Range	2001-08-06
78.	Otay Mountain	Otay Mountain-South Ridge	3480	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2002-04-19
79.	Bucks Lake	Mount Pleasant	7120	Northern Sierra Nevada	2002-06-23
80.	Chanchelulla	Chanchelulla Peak	6401	Northern California Coast Range	2002-06-27
81.	Sanhedrin	Big Signal Peak-East Ridge	6120	Northern California Coast Range	2002-07-27
82.	Marble Mountain	Boulder Peak	8299	Klamath Mountains	2002-08-07
83.	Trinity Alps	Thompson Peak	8994	Klamath Mountains	2002-08-10
84.	Russian	Russian Peak	8190	Klamath Mountains	2002-08-11
85.	Carrizo Gorge	Mount Tule	4647	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2004-01-20
86.	Siskiyou	Preston Peak	7309	Klamath Mountains	2004-06-17
87.	Indian Pass	Quartz Peak	2160	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2006-01-16
88.	South Fork Eel River	Cahto Peak-North Slope	4160	Northern California Coast Range	2006-09-07
89.	South Nopah Range	Noon Benchmark	4239	South Great Basin Ranges	2007-02-19
90.	Funeral Mountains	Funeral Mountains Wilderness High Point	5320	West Great Basin Ranges	2007-02-20
91.	Cleghorn Lakes	Bald Benchmark	4079	Mojave Desert Ranges	2009-03-04
92.	Lava Beds	Lava Beds National Monument High Point	5680	California Cascades	2012-07-03
93.	Santa Lucia	Hi Mountain-Southeast Ridge	3160	Central California Coast Ranges	2012-10-21
94.	Bright Star	Bright Star Wilderness High Point	6080	Southern Sierra Nevada	2012-11-14
95.	Grass Valley	Grass Valley Wilderness High Point	4681	Mojave Desert Ranges	2012-11-15
96.	Rodman Mountains	Rodman Mountains Wilderness High Point	5240	Mojave Desert Ranges	2012-11-26
97.	Saddle Peak Hills	Saddle Peak Hills High Point	2280	West Great Basin Ranges	2012-11-26
98.	Pahrump Valley	Pahrump Valley Wilderness High Point	5151	Mojave Desert Ranges	2012-11-27
99.	North Mesquite Mountains	North Mesquite Mountains Wilderness High Point	4701	Mojave Desert Ranges	2012-11-27
100.	Cadiz Dunes	Cadiz Dunes Wilderness High Point	974	Mojave Desert Ranges	2012-12-25
101.	Pinto Mountains	Pinto Mountains Wilderness High Point	3840	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2012-12-26
102.	Mecca Hills	Mecca Hills Wilderness High Point	1814	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2013-01-09
103.	Coyote Mountains	Coyote Mountains Wilderness High Point	1975	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2013-02-14
104.	San Mateo Canyon	San Mateo Canyon Wilderness High Point	3591	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2013-02-28
105.	Hauser	Morena Butte	3920	Peninsular Southern California Ranges	2013-05-09
	White Mountains	White Mountains Wilderness High Point	14,080	West Great Basin Ranges
	Monarch	Hogback Peak	11,080	Central Sierra Nevada
	Dinkey Lakes	Three Sisters	10,612	Central Sierra Nevada
	Lassen Volcanic	Lassen Volcanic Wilderness High Point	10,400	California Cascades
	Jennie Lakes	Mitchell Peak	10,365	Sequoia Sierra Nevada
	Kaiser	Kaiser Peak	10,310	Central Sierra Nevada
	Domeland	Bald Mountain-East Shoulder	9360	Southern Sierra Nevada
	Piper Mountain	Juniper Benchmark-Northeast Slope	8840	West Great Basin Ranges
	Sacatar Trail	Sacatar Trail Wilderness High Point	8840	Southern Sierra Nevada
	Caribou	Red Cinder	8375	California Cascades
	Santa Rosa	Toro Peak-North Summit	8000	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Chimney Peak	Chimney Peak	7994	Southern Sierra Nevada
	Surprise Canyon	Surprise Canyon Wilderness High Point	7770	West Great Basin Ranges
	Argus Range	Argus Range Wilderness High Point	7720	West Great Basin Ranges
	Coso Range	Coso Range Wilderness High Point	7581	West Great Basin Ranges
	Castle Crags	Castle Crags High Point	7200	Klamath Mountains
	Red Buttes	Red Butte	6739	Klamath Mountains
	Yuki	Yuki Wilderness High Point	6520	Northern California Coast Range
	Sawtooth Mountains	Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness High Point	5960	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Matilija	Matilija Wilderness High Point	5938	Transverse Ranges
	Mount Lassic	Signal Peak	5876	Northern California Coast Range
	Darwin Falls	Darwin Falls Wilderness High Point	5699	West Great Basin Ranges
	South Fork San Jacinto	South Fork San Jacinto Wilderness High Point	5447	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Mesquite	Mesquite Wilderness High Point	5266	Mojave Desert Ranges
	Stateline	Stateline Wilderness High Point	4928	Mojave Desert Ranges
	Magic Mountain	Magic Mountain Wilderness High Point	4705	Transverse Ranges
	Pine Creek	Pine Creek Wilderness High Point	4424	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Ishi	Barkley Mountain-West Slope	4320	California Cascades
	Machesna Mountain	Machesna Mountain	4063	Central California Coast Ranges
	Jacumba	Jacumba Wilderness High Point	4038	Northern Baja California
	Elkhorn Ridge	Brush Mountain	3761	Northern California Coast Range
	North Fork	North Fork Wilderness High Point	3607	Northern California Coast Range
	Silver Peak	Silver Peak	3590	Central California Coast Ranges
	Pinnacles	South Chalone Peak	3269	Central California Coast Ranges
	Garcia	Pine Ridge	3200	Central California Coast Ranges
	Cache Creek	Brushy Sky High	3196	Northern California Coast Range
	Cedar Roughs	Cedar Roughs	2368	Northern California Coast Range
	Little Picacho	Mala Pais Benchmark	1474	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Phillip Burton	Mount Wittenberg	1407	Northern California Coast Range
	Picacho Peak	Mica Benchmark	1400	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	North Algodones Dunes	North Algodones Dunes Wilderness High Point	500	Peninsular Southern California Ranges
	Farallon	Farallon Islands Wilderness High Point	260	Central California Coast Ranges

Front Runners List: Click here to see list completion progress by climbers that log their climbs using Peakbagger.com.

Compare Climbers: Click here to compare ascents of up to 5 climbers working on this list.

List Description

California has more wilderness areas than any other state--148--and they include areas in every major mountain range between Mexico and Oregon. Many famous peaks are on this list, but it also includes many "liners" near summits, where the summit area has a road or radio tower, forcing the wilderness boundary and high point to a random slope point.

Also, note that there are two wilderness areas in California that are closed to public entry. The first is the Fallaron Islands, and the second is the Rocks and Islands wilderness off the northern coast. This latter area is largely marine and I could not find any discernable high point on its tiny offshore rocks, so it is not listed here, making the list total 147.

There are also two wilderness areas (Havasu and Imperial Refuge) located parly in California and party in Arizona, and their high points are in Arizona. They are not on this list either--see the Arizona Wilderness High Point List on this site for these peaks.

Acknowledgments

A big thank you to Daryn Dodge, who researched many of these points and supplied a detailed Excel file that allowed me to easily update the preliminary list of 75 peaks that was here. Appreciate it, Daryn!

Map Showing Location of Peaks

= Peaks climbed by John Vitz = Unclimbed peaks

Click on a peak to see its name and a clickable link.

(Map only shows peaks ranked by clean prominence)

Click Here for a Full Screen Map

This page has been served 203937 times since 2004-11-01.