Carrizo Plain

Three hundred years ago, California’s Central Valley was vast grassland where antelope and elk grazed and wildflowers swept the spring landscape.

Overview

The Carrizo Plain National Monument, located 100 airline miles (160 km) from Los Angeles, is an area bypassed by time. Soda Lake, its centerpiece, is a glistening bed of white salt, set within a vast open grassland, rimmed by steep mountains. The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species, is an area culturally important to Native Americans, and is traversed by the San Andreas fault, which has created and moved mountain ranges, carved valleys and is marked by a subtle alignment of ridges, ravines and pools.

The Carrizo Plain (Obispeño: tšɨłkukunɨtš, "Place of the rabbits" [4]) is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long and up to 15 miles (24 km) across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles

Carrizo Plain National Monument is a United States National Monument about 75 mi (121 km) inland from San Luis Obispo in the Central Coast of California.

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Carrizo Plain National Monument is only a few hours outside of Los Angeles but yet it’s one of the most remote sites in the state of California. It’s known for …

The Carrizo Plain National Monument is jointly managed by The Nature Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Game, and The Bureau of Land Management.

The colorful sand dunes and mesas of the Coachella Valley Preserve harbor some of the most species rich communities found in our southwestern deserts. The preserve is also home to the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard found nowhere else in the world.

Info

Carrizo Plain National Monument is a beautiful range of mountains and valleys in Central California that has been relatively untouched over the years, hel

The protected status of the Carrizo Plain National Monument is under attack! Learn more about the threats facing this iconic landscape in San Luis Obispo County and how you can make a difference.

Ruggedly beautiful, the Carrizo Plain National Monument boasts exotic wildlife and dazzling wildflowers. Learn more about this pristine SLO CAL gem.