Wilcox Ridge, California, USA
(c) 2004 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com, Inc. (fair use policy)
Interstate Route 5 down the length of California's great Central Valley can be a dull drive if you don't like the countryside. But there's something to look at almost every mile. Just south of the Newman exit, in southern Stanislaus County, a vista point takes in the Diablo Range on the west and (on rare clear days) the distant Sierra Nevada on the east. Through the gap formed by Orestimba Creek is this view of the oak-studded rise of Wilcox Ridge. The rocks underlying this whole view are the Great Valley Sequence. In the immediate foreground is the California Aqueduct, which carries a river's worth of water down the length of the San Joaquin Valley to feed farms of all kinds. In between is the kind of dry range that water turns into hugely productive farmland.
Free wallpaper pictures of the California Coast Range
