Wildlife in the East Fork High Rock Wilderness includes bighorn sheep, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and mountain lions. The canyons provide outstanding habitat for nesting raptors. The Applegate-Lassen Emigrant Trail forms the western boundary of the wilderness. Visitors confront the exact landscape that settlers came upon as they bounced along in covered wagons en route to California.
Nevada
Nevada's 68 designated wilderness areas that comprise 3.37 million acres of lands. Nearly half of the inholding acreage in Nevada—about 5,000 acres-- is in the East Humboldt Wilderness, dating back to the days when the railroad was granted checkerboard ownership of land in the West. Today ranching and mining claims remain active within Nevada’s diverse and rugged wilderness areas. Las Vegas investors own large tracts, presenting a potential development threat.
Washoe County (Bureau of Land Management)
320 acres
The East Fork High Rock Canyon Wilderness lies on a broad, volcanic upland in the northern Calico Mountains. Humans have used the area for thousands of years. Pioneers on their way to Oregon and California passed through High Rock Canyon along the Lassen-Applegate Trail. Elevations range from 4,900 to 6,600 feet. Deep canyons, some 500- feet deep, cut through multi-colored layers of volcanic rock. Bright green canyon floors contrast with the yellows, reds, browns, grays and oranges of the canyon walls. The canyon floors are home to quail, chukar partridge and mule deer. The buttes and uplands are home to pronghorn antelope and nesting golden eagles.
Wilderness Protected
Nevada Sunset
“We need wilderness preserved--as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds--because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed.
--Wallace Stegner