About the Carrizo Plain National Monument
Visitors often describe California's Carrizo Plain as a place frozen in time. Known for its spectacular spring wildflower displays, the monument includes vast plains and coastal mountain ranges. It contains the largest remaining example of the type of habitat that once spread across the San Joaquin Valley centuries ago, land that has been largely eliminated by agricultural, urban, and industrial development.
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| Carrizo Plain National Monument. Photo by Dan Smuts, TWS. |
With only limited evidence of human alteration, the 250,000-acre Carrizo Plain National Monument is a biological cornerstone for the San Joaquin Valley. Located in eastern San Luis Obispo County and dramatically bisected by the San Andreas Fault zone, it is the largest undeveloped remnant of this ecosystem, providing habitats that are essential to the long-term survival of the many endemic and endangered plant and animal species that inhabit the area.
The Carrizo Plain is home to the largest concentration of endangered species in all of California. Thirteen plant and animal species have been state or federally listed as threatened or endangered, including the San Joaquin kit fox, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the California condor, and the California jewel flower. Other large mammals within the monument include pronghorn antelope and tule elk. These two magnificent animals, which were almost totally eliminated in the region by uncontrolled hunting and habitat loss during the last century, have begun to reestablish themselves in the monument following reintroduction programs.
The monument contains Soda Lake and associated vernal pools which provide important seasonal habitat for migratory water birds. Also included in the monument are the Temblor and Caliente mountain ranges, which include lands of wilderness quality.
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