Alpine Butte Wildlife Sanctuary

Location:
  • Alpine Butte is located along East Avenue "O", about one mile west of 135th Street East. The legal description of the property is as follows: the west half of Section 13, Township 6 North, Range 10 West: S.B.B.M.


    Size:
  • 320 acres

    Elevation:
  • From 2,676 to 2,800 feet above sea level.

    Accessibility:
  • The sanctuary is easily accessible by the paved East Avenue "O" and a short graded dirt road into the sanctuary.

    Plant Communities:
  • The dominant plant communities here are Joshua Tree Woodland and Creosote Bush Scrub. The two communities are about equally represented. Other shrubs such as Morman Tea, Winter Fat and Cheesebush, and many annual and perennial wildflowers are common throughout the sanctuary.

    Present Condition and General Observations:
  • The Alpine Butte Wildlife Sanctuary is currently in a very natural condition with few signs of public abuse. There is a well graded dirt road on the east side about 0.5 mile in length, leading south from East Avenue "O". This sanctuary exhibits the greatest topographic diversity, and contains the only buttes and sand dunes. The area supports much wildlife as evidenced by the great number of tracks and burrows in the ground. The diversity of wildflowers in Spring attracts many visitors to see the floral displays (see the Flora List of the Sanctuaries). An early report (December 3, 1960) prepared by the Department mentions the fact that some of the Joshua Trees at Alpine Butte may be among the tallest in the County.

    • Alpine Butte Wildflowers
    Goldenhead---------------------- (Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus)
    Hairy Sand-Verbena (Abronia villosa)
    Indian Rice Grass (Achnatherum hymenoides)
    Desert Needlegrass (Achnatherum speciosum)
    Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa)
    Checker Fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata)
    Scale Bud (Anisocoma acaulis)
    Wingscale (Atriplex canescens)
    Desert Brickellebush (Brickellia desertorum)
    Red Brome (Bromus madritensis rubens)
    Cheat Grass (Bromus tectorum)
    Sand-cress (Calyptridium monandrum)
    Mojave Sun Cup (Camissonia campestris)
    Brown-Eyed Primrose (Camissonia claviformis)
    Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
    Bigelow Coreopsis (Coreopsis bigelovii)
    Croton (Croton californicus)
    Popcornflower (Cryptantha circumcissa)
    ?Popcornflower (Cryptantha micrantha)
    ?Popcornflower (Cryptantha pterocaria)
    Tansy-Mustard (Descurainia pinnata)
    Spectacle-Pod (Dithyrea californica)
    Mormon tea (Ephedra nevadensis)
    White Mallow (Eremalche exilis)
    Cooper Goldenbbush (Ericameria cooperi)
    Interior Goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolius)
    Yellow Turban (Eriogonum pusillum)
    Buckwheat (Eriogonum viridescens)
    Pringle Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum pringlei)
    Wallace Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum wallacei)
    Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)
    Davy Gilia (Gilia latiflora davyi)
    Foxtail Barley (Hordeum jubatum)
    Cheesebush (Hymenoclea salsola)
    Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)
    Goldfields (Lasthenia californica)
    Lessingia (Lessingia g. glandulifera)
    Parry Linanthus (Linanthus parryae)
    Desert Parsley (Lomatium mohavense)
    Royal Desert Lupine (Lupinus odoratus)
    ?Lupin (Lupinus sp.)
    Anderson Boxthorn (Lycium andersonii)
    Desert Pennyroyal (Monardella exilis)
    Desert star (Monoptilon bellioides)
    Purple Mat (Nama demissuum)
    Dune Primrose (Oenothera deltoides)
    Silver Cholla (Opuntia echinocarpa)
    Comb-bur (Pectocarya linearis)
    One-sided Bluegrass (Poa secunda)
    Wild-Rhubarb (Rumex hymenosepalus)
    Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus)
    Mediterranean Grass (Schismus barbatus)
    Tumble-Mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum)
    Wire lettuce (Stephanomeria sp.)
    Stillingia (Stillingia paucidentata)
    Cotton-Thorn (Tetradymia axillaris longispina)
    Coldenia (Tiquilia nuttallii)
    Silver Puffs (Uropappus lindleyi)
    Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)


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