Kingston Peak (California)

Kingston Peak is the only named peak in the Kingston Range, a small desert mountain range in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert. The highest point in the Kingston Range's 17-mile U-shaped continuous ridgeline, the peak has an elevation of 7,326 feet (2,233 metres) and a topographic prominence of 3,727 ft (1,136 m).[1][2] Kingston Peak's prominence makes it among the top 200 mountains by prominence in the contiguous United States, and the 23rd most prominent peak in California.[3]

Kingston Peak
Refer to caption
Kingston Peak (center) seen from 22 miles to the northwest in Greenwater Valley
Highest point
Elevation7,326 ft (2,233 m)
Coordinates35°43′36″N 115°54′56″W / 35.7266685°N 115.9155473°W / 35.7266685; -115.9155473
Geography
Kingston Peak is located in California
Kingston Peak
Kingston Peak
Location of Kingston Peak in California
LocationSan Bernardino, California
Parent rangeKingston Range
Topo mapUSGS Kingston Peak

Kingston Peak and the Kingston Range lie within the Kingston Range Wilderness, administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and one of California's most botanically diverse desert regions. One of only three white fir stands in the California deserts is found on the slopes of two drainages just below the summit of Kingston Peak.[4]

Kingston Peak and Range also form part of the Basin and Range Province, along with neighboring mountains and ranges, such as the Mesquite Mountains to the east, and the Nopah Range to the northwest.

Naming

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The origin of the name Kingston as applied to Kingston Peak and Range is unknown. It dates back at least to the early 1860s and possibly earlier. One account says it was applied by a member of John C. Frémont's second expedition into the American West, after the settlement of Kingston, New York.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kingston Peak Feature Details". USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  2. ^ "Kingston Peak, California". Peakbagger.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "California Peaks with 2000 feet of Prominence". Peakbagger.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Kingston Range Wilderness". Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  5. ^ Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). California Place Names. Revised and enlarged by William Bright, digitization sponsored by Internet Archive (4th ed., rev. and enl. ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21316-6.