Coast Ranges

Coast Ranges, discontinuous mountain system of western North America, extending along the Pacific coast from southern Alaska to Baja California, northwestern Mexico. The mountain chain includes geologically dissimilar sections, which are nevertheless grouped together as a system because of their geographical location.

The northernmost part of the Coast Ranges encompasses the mountains of Kodiak Island and the Kenai Mountains and Chugach Mountains—all in southern Alaska—and the Saint Elias Mountains of southeastern Alaska and southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada. The Coast Ranges then extend as partially submerged mountains through the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska and the Queen Charlotte Islands and Vancouver Island of western British Columbia, Canada. After being submerged again by the Pacific Ocean, the system reappears as the Olympic Mountains of western Washington State. It then continues as the Coast Ranges of western Washington and western Oregon. The portion in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California is known as the Klamath Mountains. They merge into the Coast Ranges of western California, made up of the Diablo Range, Santa Lucia Range, San Rafael Mountains, and several other ridges. To the south are the Los Angeles, or Transverse, Ranges, which include the San Bernardino, San Gabriel, San Jacinto, and Santa Monica mountains. The section in Baja California is made up of the Peninsular Ranges.

The loftiest elevations of the Coast Ranges are in the north, especially in the Saint Elias Mountains, which include Mount Logan (5,959 m/19,551 ft), the second highest peak in North America, and Mount Saint Elias (5,489 m/18,008 ft). Other notable elevations in the Coast Ranges include San Gorgonio Mountain (3,505 m/11,499 ft) and Mount Pinos (2692 m/8831 ft), in southwestern California.

The Coast Ranges have a wide variety of climate and vegetation. Sections in southern California and Mexico receive little precipitation and have few stands of large trees. Well-watered regions in northern California, Oregon, and Washington and on Vancouver Island, however, contain dense softwood forests, where lumbering is an important economic activity. Farming is pursued in some mountain valleys in the United States.