Gabilan Range

File:A553, Pinnacles National Park, California, USA, 2004.jpg ]]

File:Ross 1972 Geologic Map of the Pre-Cenozoic Basement Rocks, Gabilan Range, Monterey and San Benito Counties, California, USGS Misc. Field Investigations Map MF-357.jpg

The Gabilan Range trends in a northwest–southeast direction along the Monterey County and San Benito County line. It is bordered on the northeast by the San Andreas Fault, the San Benito River and State Route 25 which separate it from the Diablo Range to the east; and on the west by the Salinas Valley, the Salinas River and U.S. Route 101 which separate it from the Santa Lucia Range nearer the Pacific Coast.{{cite journal |title=Crustal structure of the Diablo and Gabilan ranges, central California: A reinterpretation of existing data |author=Allan W. Walter and Walter D. Mooney |date=October 1, 1982 |journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=1567–1590 |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/72/5/1567/102090/Crustal-structure-of-the-Diablo-and-Gabilan-Ranges |accessdate=July 23, 2024}} The northern limit of the Gabilan Range lies just south of Pinecate Peak{{cite gnis|230729|Pinecate Peak}} and San Juan Bautista, California.{{cite report |title=Geologic Map of the Pre-Cenozoic Basement Rocks, Gabilan Range, Monterey and San Benito Counties, California, USGS Miscellaneous Field Investigations Map MF-357 |author=Ross, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |year=1972 |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_2777.htm |access-date=December 17, 2021}} According to the USGS GNIS, GPS coordinates for the southern border of the Gabilan Range follow Chalone Creek{{cite gnis|240458|Chalone Creek}} which enters the Salinas River east of Greenfield, California. Chalone Creek is the principal drainage of Pinnacles National Park.{{cite web |title=Disturbed Lands- Chalone Creek Restoration |date=February 28, 2015 |publisher=National Park Service |url=https://www.nps.gov/pinn/learn/nature/disturbed-lands.htm |accessdate=July 23, 2024}}

Mount Johnson (California), at {{convert|3467|ft|m}} in elevation, is the range's highest point. There are several other peaks also over {{convert|3000|ft|m}} in the range.

In Spanish, gavilán (gabilan is an older alternate rendering) means "sparrow hawk".{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n132 133]}}{{cite book|last=Gudde|first=Edwin G.|title=California place names: The origin and etymology of current geographical names|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, California|isbn=0-520-24217-3|page=140}} Hawks, especially the red-tailed hawk, are common in the range.

The Gabilan Mountains and other nearby places are mentioned in several novels by John Steinbeck, such as Of Mice and Men and East of Eden. In The Red Pony notably, the main character (Jody Tiflin) names his pony "Gabilan" after the mountain range. The mountains also appear in the 1875 memoirs of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Fremont Peak was named for John C. Frémont, an American explorer and a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers who assessed the military value of the peak in 1846, posing a threat to the Mexican authorities. It is now a California State Park.{{cite web |title=Fremont Peak State Park |url=https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=564 |access-date=December 17, 2021}}

File:Pinn view west chaparral s12.jpg

One of the last relatively undeveloped corridors for wildlife passage between the southern Santa Cruz Mountains and the northern Gabilan Range runs from lands between Mount Pajaro{{cite gnis|230245|Mount Pajaro}} and Rancho Juristac, in southern Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties respectively, south across California State Route 129 and U.S. Highway 101 to lands between Pinecate Peak{{cite gnis|230729|Pinecate Peak}} and San Juan Bautista in San Benito County.{{cite report |title=Critical Linkages: Bay Area & Beyond |author=Penrod, K. |author2=P. E. Garding |author3=C. Paulman |author4=P. Beier |author5=S. Weiss |author6=N. Schaefer |author7=R. Branciforte |author8=K. Gaffney |year=2013 |publisher=Science & Collaboration for Connected Wildlands |location=Fair Oaks, California |url=http://www.scwildlands.org/reports/CriticalLinkages_BayAreaAndBeyond.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2021}} The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has protected the first block of land intended to protect the Santa Cruz Mountains-Gabilan Range Wildlife Corridor, the {{convert|2,640|acre|sqmi}} Rocks Ranch in Aromas at the border of San Benito and Monterey counties.{{cite news |title=Rocks Ranch property sold to Land Trust |author=Juan Reyes |newspaper=The Pajaronian |date=September 14, 2020 |url=https://pajaronian.com/rocks-ranch-property-sold-to-land-trust/ |access-date=December 17, 2021}}

• {{C|Gabilan Range|Gabilan Range topics}}
• California interior chaparral and woodlands
• Pinnacles National Park

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm National Park Service: Pinnacles National Park website]

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Category:California Coast Ranges

Category:Mountain ranges of Monterey County, California

Category:Mountain ranges of San Benito County, California

Category:Pinnacles National Park

Category:John Steinbeck

Category:Mountain ranges of Northern California

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