The Chocolate Mountains form the northeast boundary of the Salton Trough extending as a narrow range some southeast from the Orocopia Mountains to the Colorado River valley. The mountains are located about west of the Chocolate Mountains of Arizona, but the two ranges are not connected. The range reaches an elevation of 2,475 feet at Mount Barrow, and serves as a drainage divide for the Salton Watershed to the west. The mountains receive very little rainfall in a normal year, typically 4-6 inches. The predominant natural plants are of the creosote bush–white bursage community, and the mean annual temperature is about to.
Geology
The range is composed of Precambrian basement rocks and Orocopia Schist with Mesozoic granite intrusions. The range may have been formed by the collision of a microcontinental fragment with mainland Southern California during the Late Cretaceous. The collision is indicated by a thrust fault which emplaced Proterozoic and Mesozoic rocks of continental cruston top of the late Mesozoic Orocopia Schist which in turn was composed of oceanic sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The range was host to numerous small gold workings in the 19th century with one, the Mesquite Mine to the east, continuing to be active into the 20th century.
At the southeastern end of the Chocolate Mountains range are two important wilderness areas. The first is the Little Picacho Wilderness, a 38,170 acre region of geological features and habitat protection under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management. The preserve has within its boundaries the southern portion of the Chocolate Mountains. Elevations within this area range from 200 to. The topography, characterized by jutting spires and steep ridges, is quite dramatic. Ravines laced within the range gradually broaden into sandy, tree-lined washes. Slopes and plains are devoid of vegetation, instead covered with a desert pavement of angular cobbles. These rusty dark orange and brown colored cobbles stand out against the nearly white bottoms of the washes. It is also called the Little Picacho Peak Wilderness.
The Indian Pass Wilderness Area is to the north with of open space. The Indian Pass Wilderness is a distinctive part of the Chocolate Mountains, a range which extends from south central Riverside County to the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona. Quartz Peak is the highest point in the wilderness capped at. Jagged peaks and spires are sliced by mazes of twisting canyons which carry water from occasional desert cloudbursts into several tree-lined washes. One of these washes passes through the heart of the wilderness area, giving rise to the region's local name, "Julian Wash country." The area's proximity to the Colorado River and the Arizona Desert contribute to the presence of wildlife species not commonly found in the California Desert. At the southern end of the Chocolate Mountains at elevations from 200 to, the Indian Pass Wilderness preserve is located west of Brawley, California, and is also managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A herd of 25 desert bighorn sheep reside in the wilderness area, along with "the Picacho feral horses," wild burros, and the native and endangered desert tortoise and spotted bat.
