The 36 National Natural Landmarks of California

California is home to a large portion of the US National Natural Landmarks.

The United States National Natural Landmarks (NNL) is a program that identifies and encourages the management, conservation, and rehabilitation of natural history in the US. The program identifies the geological and biological features in private and public ownership. The main aim of the program is to encourage and support individual and organization efforts in preserving sites that illustrate the ecological and geological history of the country. The program also seeks to encourage the public to appreciate natural heritage. There are 599 national natural landmarks in the country spread across 48 states, and the territories of Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa. Delaware and Louisiana are the only states without a national natural landmark. The federal, state, county, or municipal governments manage about one-half of the landmark sites. One-third is privately owned while the rest is owned and managed by a public-private corporation. A site qualifies as NNL because it contains the remnants of a specific geological, ecological, or biological feature. There are thirty-six National Natural Landmarks in California which include faults, desert parks, and extinct ice age animals and plants.

National Natural Landmarks of California

Elder Creek

Elder Creek is the oldest NNL in California. Elder Creek is a stream of the Sacramento River. It is located in Tehama County. The stream originates from the Mendocino National Forest. It was designated in 1964 as the oldest National Natural Landmark in California. The privately owned site covers an area of 2,905 acres. Elder Creek is among the few undisturbed watersheds in the country. It consists of a forest with Douglas fir, deciduous trees, and broadleaf evergreens.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest NNL in California, alongside being the largest desert state park and the second largest park in the United States. The park occupies 622,810 acres of the Colorado Desert. It was designated an NNL monument in 1974. The park’s habitat is part of the Colorado Desert ecosystem that includes woodlands, and California montane ecoregion. It contains bajadas, rock formation, desert washes, arid landscapes, and colorful badlands. Natural oases and springs support the only native palm trees in California.

Eureka Dunes

The Eureka Dunes is the tallest NNL in California. Eureka Dunes occupies the southern part of Eureka Valley in Inyo County. The dunes cover an area of 4,544 acres. They rise to a height of 680 feet making them the tallest dunes in the great basin. The dunes were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1983. The dunes’ ecosystem is home to unique and protected plant species including the eureka dune grass and the eureka evening primrose.

Designation and Ownership

The Federal government wholly owns ten of the thirty-six NNLs; nine are owned by the state governments, while ten more are private properties. The rest are owned by joint ownership between the three parties. A majority of the sites were designated NNLs between 1964 and 1987, Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks is the only park that was designated between 1988 and 2011, while Lake Shasta Caverns was designated in 2012 as the newest NLL.

The 36 National Natural Landmarks of California

Rank	Name	Date	County	Ownership
1	Amboy Crater	1973	San Bernardino	Federal
2	American River and Phoenix Park Vernal Pools	1976	Sacramento	County/private
3	Año Nuevo State Reserve	1980	San Mateo	State
4	Anza-Borrego Desert	1974	Imperial, Riverside, San Diego	State
5	Audubon Canyon	1968	Marin	Private
6	Black Chasm Cave	1976	Amador	Private
7	Burney Falls	1984	Shasta	State
8	Cima volcanic field	1973	San Bernardino	Federal
9	Cosumnes River Preserve	1976	Sacramento	Private/Federal
10	Deep Springs Marsh	1975	Inyo	Private
11	Dixon Vernal Pools	1987	Solano	Private
12	Elder Creek	1964	Mendocino	Private
13	Emerald Bay	1968	El Dorado	State
14	Eureka Dunes	1983	Inyo	Federal
15	Fish Slough Area of Critical Environmental Concern	1975	Inyo, Mono	Federal/state/municipal
16	Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes	1974	San Luis Obispo	Federal/state/private)
17	Imperial Sand Hills	1966	Imperial	Federal
18	Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks	2006	Orange	State/county/municipal
19	Lake Shasta Caverns	2012	Shasta	Private
20	Miramar Mounds	1972	San Diego	Federal
21	Mitchell Caverns and Winding Stair Cave	1975	San Bernardino	State
22	Mt. Diablo State Park	1982	Contra Costa	State
23	Mount Shasta	1976	Siskiyou	Federal
24	Pixley Vernal Pools	1987	Tulare	Private
25	Point Lobos	1967	Monterey	State
26	Pygmy Forest at Jug Handle State Natural Reserve	1969/1973	Mendocino	State
27	Rainbow Basin	1966	San Bernardino	Federal
28	La Brea Tar Pits (Rancho La Brea)	1964	Los Angeles	Municipal
29	San Andreas Fault	1965	San Benito	Private
30	San Felipe Creek Area	1974	Imperial, San Diego	Federal/state
31	Sand Ridge Wildflower Preserve	1984	Kern	Private
32	Sharktooth Hill	1976	Kern	Private
33	Tijuana River Estuary	1973	San Diego	Federal/state/municipal
34	Torrey Pines State Reserve	1977	San Diego	State
35	Trona Pinnacles	1967	San Bernardino	Federal
36	Turtle Mountain	1973	San Bernardino	Federal