Sand to Snow National Monument, Nature reserve in Riverside County, California, United States.
Sand to Snow National Monument covers 154,000 acres in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, from about 300 m on the Coachella Valley floor to over 3,400 m in the San Bernardino Mountains. The Forest Service manages 71,000 acres and the Bureau of Land Management 83,000 acres; over 100,000 acres lie within the San Gorgonio Wilderness, and a detached section, Black Lava Butte, extends the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness.
Sand to Snow National Monument was designated by President Barack Obama on February 12, 2016, under the Antiquities Act, together with Castle Mountains and Mojave Trails national monuments. It drew on The Wildlands Conservancy's twenty-year Sand to Snow Wilderness Interface Project, which had acquired over 60,000 acres of private land, including properties threatened with development. Much of the monument was already protected: San Gorgonio Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1964, and Big Morongo Canyon became a wildlife reserve in 1982.
The monument's German-language documentation records an estimated 1,700 petroglyphs left by early Native American cultures within its boundaries. The name comes from the elevation range, roughly 300 m on the Coachella Valley floor to over 3,400 m in the San Bernardino Mountains. Big Morongo Canyon, the monument's most developed section, is noted for waterbirds; 240 bird species have been recorded.
The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail runs 30 miles (48 km) through the monument, entering from the San Bernardino National Forest and crossing the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Elevations range from about 300 m on the Coachella Valley floor to over 3,400 m, so snow can persist on the high ridges while the desert floor stays warm. Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, the monument's most developed section, has the easiest paths.
The monument holds an estimated 1,700 petroglyphs left by early Native American cultures, mostly on rock faces in its desert sections. It also contains the headwaters of the Santa Ana, Whitewater, Morongo and San Gorgonio rivers. Big Morongo Canyon, its most developed area, is a noted site for water birds.
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