The Snow Mountain Wilderness is a 60076acre federally designated wilderness area located 65mi north of Santa Rosa, California, USA in the Mendocino National Forest. The U.S. Congress passed the California Wilderness Act of 1984 which created 23 new wilderness areas including Snow Mountain. It lies within the North Coast Range of mountains.Elevations are from 1800ft to 7056ft. The wilderness covers the crest of this North Coast Range mountain divide for 13mi and the summit area includes two peaks, East (7,050 ft) and West (7,021 ft).On October 17, 2006 the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act was signed into law (Public Law No: 109-362) which added 23706acre to the Snow Mountain Wilderness. In July 2015, the area became part of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.The Trough Fire burned 24970acre of Snow Mountain Wilderness and national forest land in August 2001. More than 12 million dollars was spent to contain the wildfire even though most of the area was within the wilderness boundary. This human-caused wildfire started near Fouts Springs, an off-road vehicle recreational area in Mendocino National Forest.Streams and waterwaysThe Middle and South Forks of Stony Creek flow down the east side of the divide. The west slopes are drained by the main Eel River and the Rice Fork of the Eel. Other tributaries are Bearwallow Creek and Thistle Glade Creek. Stony Creek has a self-sustaining population of wild rainbow trout.
