Transverse Ranges

The Transverse Ranges get their name from the peculiar way they jog across the grain of almost all the other major mountain ranges in the state. The vast majority of the Golden State’s mountains generally run in a southeast to northwest orientation. As you might suspect, many of California’s fault lines also share this alignment.

But California’s most famous fault line, the San Andreas, bucks this trend slightly. Emerging in the Salton Trough from a spreading zone, the San Andreas at first trends northwest towards Desert Hot Springs. But not long after it takes a gentle left turn towards a more WNW bearing. Many of its subsidiary faults take a harder left and align themselves in a westerly fashion. As a result the Transverse Ranges trend in a east-west direction. This has a significant impact on the coastal plains of southern California. They are, in effect, cut off from the rest of the state by imposing mountains.

Sespe River

The flow of the Sespe River fluctuates wildly season to season and year to year. This pool near Piedra Blanca is full to a depth of over 8 feet as pictured here in April after a wet winter. By August, in all but the wettest years, it may be completely dry.

Development vs. Open Space

For several decades, development in Southern California was like a runaway train. That has not been the case everywhere, however. Newbury Park (seen here) is a neighborhood in a planned community (Thousand Oaks) that attempts to balance development with preservation of open space.

Simi Hills

These low mountains run east to west from the San Fernando Valley to Thousand Oaks, separating Simi Valley on the north from the Conejo Valley to the south. Sheltering growing cities, they provide critical habitat and wildlife corridors for a number of species including mountain lions.

Topa Topa Mountains

Sedimentary formations are seen here in the Topa Topa Mountains above Ojai. A subset of the Los Padres Mountains, these peaks are prominently visible from much of the Oxnard Plain. This range is primarily composed of Oligocene-Eocene age sandstones.

Snow Days?

Unlike the lofty San Bernardino or San Gabriel Mountains, which see blankets of snow every winter on high, the much less lofty Santa Monica Mountains rarely see snow. In fact, snow is a very rare occurrence in the Transverse Ranges under 3,500 ft.This shot taken in March of 2005 near the summit of Sandstone Peak (3,111 ft.)

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