Pacific Coast Ranges

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The Pacific Coast Ranges are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along west coast of North America from Alaska to northern and central Mexico. They are also known as the Pacific Cordillera. The character of the ranges varies considerably, from the record-setting tidewater glaciers in the ranges of Alaska, to the low but rugged and scrub-covered hills of southern California, but the entire coast is consistent in dropping steeply into the sea, often resulting in photogenic views. Along the British Columbia and Alaska coast, the mountains intermix with the sea in a complex maze of fjords, with thousands of islands.

There are a handful of small coastal plains at the mouths of rivers that have punched through the mountains, most notably at the Copper River in Alaska, the Fraser River in British Columbia, the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, and the Sacramento River in California, the last creating San Francisco Bay.

From the vicinity of San Francisco Bay north, it is common in winter for cool unstable air masses from the Gulf of Alaska to make landfall in one of the Coast Ranges, resulting in heavy precipitation, both as rain and snow, especially on their western slopes.

Major ranges

These are the members of the Pacific Coast Ranges, from north to south:

Chugach Mountains, southern Alaska
Wrangell Mountains, southern Alaska
Saint Elias Mountains, southern Alaska, southwestern Yukon Territory
Coast Mountains
*Boundary Ranges, southeastern Alaska, northwestern British Columbia
*Kitimat Ranges BC North Coast
*Pacific Ranges BC South Coast
**Rainbow Range northwest Chilcotin, also classifiable as part of the Interior Plateau
**Pantheon Range Homathko area
**Niut Range Homathko area
**Waddington Range Homathko area
**Whitemantle Range Homathko area
**Bendor Range
**Garibaldi Ranges
**Clendinning Range
**Tantalus Range
**Chilcotin Ranges
***Dickson Range
***Shulaps Range
***Camelsfoot Range
**Lillooet Ranges, Fraser Canyon west bank
***Cantilever Range
***Cayoosh Range
**Douglas Ranges
**Front Ranges (North Shore Mountains)
Vancouver Island Ranges, British Columbia
Olympic Mountains, Washington
Cascade Range, Washington and Oregon
Oregon Coast Range, Oregon
Calapooya Mountains, Oregon
Klamath-Siskiyou
*Klamath Mountains, Oregon, northern California
*Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon, northern California
*Trinity Alps and Salmon Mountains, California
*Yolla Bolly Mountains, Northern California
Northern Coast Ranges, California
*King Range, northern California
*Mendocino Range, northern California
*Mayacmas Mountains, California
*Marin Hills, California
Southern Coast Ranges, central California
*Diablo Range, California
*Santa Cruz Mountains, California
*Santa Lucia Range, California
*Temblor Range, California
*Caliente Range, California
Transverse Ranges, California
*Sierra Madre Mountains
*San Rafael Mountains
*Santa Ynez Mountains
*Santa Susana Mountains
*Topatopa Mountains
*Simi Hills
*Santa Monica Mountains
*Tehachapi Mountains
*San Gabriel Mountains
*San Bernardino Mountains
Peninsular Ranges
*Santa Ana Mountains, California
*San Jacinto Mountains, California
*Palomar Mountain Range, California
*Sierra Juarez, Baja California
*Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California
*Sierra de la Laguna, Baja California Sur
Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico

Major icefields

These are not named as ranges, but amount to the same thing. The Pacific Coast Ranges are home to the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world.

Juneau Icefield
Stikine Icecap
Ha-Iltzuk Icefield (Silverthrone Glacier)
Monarch Icefield
Waddington Icefield
Homathko Icefield
Lillooet Icecap (Lillooet Crown)
Pemberton Icecap

Only the largest icefields are listed above; smaller icefields may be listed on the various range pages. Formally unnamed icefields are not listed

External link

[Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia entry on the Pacific Cordillera]

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