CHARACTER OF THE COAST RANGE. 
5 
Section 2. COAST RANGE. 
By referring to the map of southern California, it will he perceived that there are two main moun¬ 
tain masses, the Sierra Nevada and Coast Bange, separated by an extensive plain, the San Joaquin 
and Tulare. The crests of their serpentine watersheds gradually converge towards the Tejon, 
where there is an impinging of the two masses to such a degree as to completely envelope the 
plain, throwing around it formidable barriers to egress toward the desert on one side and the 
ocean slope on the other. Beyond, and to the south of the Tejon, but one mass or chain will be 
observed trending off to the peninsula of Lower California, dividing the waters flowing directly 
to the coast from those of the Colorado Basin. The ranges are marked and decided in their 
several features and characteristics, the former being made up of a solid and dense mass of 
ridges and spurs, presenting but few depressions or openings to the desert or Great Basin ; while 
the Coast Kange is composed of a series of distinct ridges, with intervening valleys and plains, 
rendering the whole district very inviting to the agriculturist, and affording the artist every 
variety of study, from the smooth plain with its lowing herds, to the rugged mountain with its 
walled canons. 
No little confusion has of late arisen in regard to the application of the term Coast Range , 
but this may, in my opinion, be greatly corrected by giving the term its widest acceptation, 
and applying it to the whole system of ridges lying west of the San Joaquin and Tulare valleys. 
Each ridge has been, in turn, called the Coast Bange, depending on the position of the observer, 
whether in the interior or on the ocean ; but by using it as a general term to include the 
whole, and giving to each ridge its local name, no difficulty will be experienced in studying 
the topography and geology of that very interesting region. 
The ridges are five, and, proceeding from the eastward, they will be distinguished in what 
follows as—1st, the Monte Diablo mountains; 2d, the Santa Cruz and Gavilan mountains ; 
3d, the Salinas mountains and San Jos5 mountains ; 4th, the Santa Lucia mountains; and 5th, 
the Santa Inez. The axes of the several ridges are parallel, with the apparent exception of 
the Santa Inez, and this has been found, after a close geological investigation, to follow the 
same law, although from the mass there appears to be a fan-like order about the ranges, which 
is really the case when the crests of the several watersheds are considered in connexion with the 
form and slope of the intervening valleys. Following the coast line from the south, this fan¬ 
like arrangement of the ridges resembles more an echelon order, where each ridge, in turn, presents 
its full front to the ocean for some distance, and then gives way to the one immediately behind 
it, each becoming thus, in fact, a coast ridge ; and this feature no doubt has contributed much 
to the confusion before noted. The Monte Diablo mountains form the western boundary of the 
San Joaquin valley, and extend from near the head of the Bay of San Francisco to opposite 
the Tulare lake. The most prominent feature of this ridge is the Monte Diablo, a heavy and 
massive peak with rounded profile, and a summit elevation of about four thousand feet, giving 
it great prominence as a landmark. Further to the south there are other peaks, Pachecho and 
Santa Ana; and in the vicinity of the peaks are found passes leading through from the Bay of 
San Francisco, San Jose plain, and Santa Clara valley, to the great interior basin of the San 
Joaquin. To the west of this ridge lies that of the Santa Cruz and Gavilan mountains, forming 
in their extent the western boundary of the San Jose plain and Santa Clara valley, and separating 
the southern arm of the Bay of San Francisco from the ocean, becoming, in its prolongation to 
the north, the barrier through which the waters of this bay find egress by the Golden Gate. 
