Surprise Valley is an endorheic valley in extreme northeastern California , about 60 miles in length from north to south. Locals refer to the area as the Tricorner Region because of the region's location at the intersection of California , Oregon , and Nevada state lines. The valley is east of the Modoc County seat of Alturas . The area is part of the Great Basin which extends across most of the northern half of Nevada.
18-400: Surprise Valley may refer to: Surprise Valley, Modoc County , California, U.S. Surprise Valley, San Bernardino County, California, U.S. Surprise Valley, former name of Cedarville, California , U.S. Rural Municipality of Surprise Valley No. 9 , Saskatchewan, Canada "Surprise Valley", a song by Widespread Panic from the 1999 album 'Til
36-628: A clinic in Cedarville. Cedarville Water District exists in Cedarville. Fandango Pass The Fandango Pass (previously Lassen Pass ; variants Lassen Cut-off , Lassen Horn ) is a gap in the Warner Mountains of Modoc County, California , USA. Located in the Modoc National Forest , its elevation is 6,135 feet (1,870 m) above sea level . It is approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of Fort Bidwell . Fandango Pass
54-463: A journey of approximately 100 miles (160 km) of desert travel. From here, the trail climbs steeply to reach the pass, gaining about 1,600 ft (490 m) in about 2 mi (3.2 km). From the summit, the trail descended steeply into the southeast end of Fandango Valley by Goose Lake on the Oregon-California border. The Fandango Pass trail section is visible on the eastern side of
72-577: A less dangerous route to the Oregon Territory , was established in 1846 by the Applegate brothers and Levi Scott, and ran through today's U.S. states of Idaho , Nevada , California , and Oregon . The Lassen Horn Trail was established by Peter Lassen two years later and ran south at Goose Lake towards California Gold Rush mines and settlements. Though the pass was extensively traversed from 1848 until 1853, its importance declined after 1869 with
90-502: A single central office and is provided by Frontier Communications. There is wireless service to some areas of the valley. This is a remote area and services that people from cities expect are sometimes degraded, expensive, or unavailable. The valley is one of the last places in California where Department of Transportation (Caltrans) highway workers have no radio communications coverage. California Highway Patrol radios were mostly useless in
108-681: Is a Paiute community on the southwest edge of Cedarville; it is led by Chairwoman Virginia Lash. The larger Fort Bidwell Paiute community is located at the Fort Bidwell Reservation to the north, and is led by Chairman Aaron Townsend. The area is entirely inside the Modoc County Air Pollution Control District. It is served by K-through-12 provider Surprise Valley Joint Unified School District headquartered in Cedarville. The Surprise Valley Hospital District, also known as Surprise Valley Healthcare District, operates
126-415: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Surprise Valley, Modoc County Most of the valley is over 4,000 feet above mean sea level (AMSL), and could be characterized as a high altitude desert valley. A series of alkaline lakes occupy low-lying areas. Forested mountains mark the west side of the valley. The Hays Canyon Range , (mostly east of
144-575: The Medicine Takes Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Surprise Valley . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Surprise_Valley&oldid=1243153367 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
162-617: The Nevada state line) is to the east, and the Warner Mountains border to the west. The valley is considered part of the Great Basin, a desert region roughly covering the geographic majority of Nevada and extending into Utah ; also regions of southeast Oregon , and southern California , in the east. Communities in Surprise Valley include Eagleville (ZIP Code 96110), Cedarville (96104), Lake City (96115), and Fort Bidwell (96112). Most of
180-580: The area until the 1980s installation of a remote-controlled base station intended to cover the valley. The unvoted base station works over a 76 MHz link to establish radio connectivity from the Highway Patrol's command center to this remote area. There are two sovereign tribal governments in the valley: The Cedarville Rancheria and the Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California . The Cedarville Rancheria
198-670: The area, crosses the valley diagonally from north of State Route 299 to Fandango Pass . The route is also known as the California National Historic Trail . Other roads out of the valley are unpaved. Because of its location along the Nevada state line, it is normal to see patrol cars from the Nevada Highway Patrol and the Washoe County Sheriff's Department transiting the area. Wired telephone service in this part of area code 530 appears to work out of
SECTION 10
#1732852813838216-840: The land west of the main north-south highway, Surprise Valley Road, is US Forest Service land. To the east of the road, most land is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Recreational facilities on BLM lands tie in with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge , Nevada (formerly called Sheldon Antelope Refuge ). Over the region, opportunities for hiking, exploring dirt roads, birding, stalking antelope with cameras, fishing, camping, and mountain biking are available. Big game and bird hunting are popular among some area visitors. A BLM brochure warns, "Snowstorms occasionally strand travelers. May and June snowstorms are not uncommon." There are hot springs and abandoned mine shafts throughout
234-628: The opening of the Cedar Pass wagon road. To reach the pass, the emigrants had to cross or bypass Upper Alkali Lake in order to reach the Warner Mountains which is located to the west of the lake. The historic cutoff, part of the California Trail , required passing through Rabbithole Springs, crossing the Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon before finally arriving at Surprise Valley ,
252-525: The region. Cedar Pass on State Route 299 is the main east-west road connecting the area with California and the county seat, Alturas. State Route 447 allows passage toward Reno, Nevada via the Black Rock Desert community of Gerlach, Nevada . It is about 152 miles from Cedarville to Reno via this route. A segment of the Applegate-Lassen Route, a Nineteenth Century pioneer wagon route to
270-409: The summit. The pass, known initially as Lassen's Pass (1857 map) or Lassen Pass (1864 map), was named for Lassen by gold seekers in 1849 who followed the route made by Lassen the previous year. One theory of the name change, from Lassen to Fandango, is that in the 1850s, an Indian massacre may have occurred in the area. The massacre involved a large emigrant train that had camped at the edge of
288-529: The valley, peak and pass were named Fandango in the 1870s, a 1949 map, nonetheless, showed the pass as being named Lassen Horn. On July 15, 1956, the Fandango Pass section of the Applegate-Lassen Emigrant Trail became California Historical Landmark No. 546. The plaque marker is located 10.8 mi (17.4 km) east of Highway 395 on Fandango Pass Road (County Road 9). A second marker
306-614: The valley. While the party indulged in a fandango after finding game, grass, and water, it was attacked by Indians. Another theory suggests that Wolverine Rangers camping in the valley found it to be so cold that they burned their wagons for heat and danced a fandango. They named their camp site "Fandango Valley". Later pioneers who passed the area and saw burned wagons deduced that an Indian massacre had occurred. Fairfield describes an 1858 skirmish between Whites and Indigenous people that occurred near Fandango Valley that resulted in at least 17 Indigenous men being scalped by Whites. While
324-611: Was historically notable for its location as the convergence of two trails, the Applegate and the Lassen, that were traveled by emigrant pioneers between 1846 and 1850. The pass can now be traversed on a 10 mi (16 km) section of graded gravel, 1.5 lanes wide. It is closed during winter storms. The mountain pass was located at a convergence of two trails, the Applegate and the Lassen, that were traveled by emigrant pioneers between 1846 and 1850. The Applegate Trail, originally intended as
#837162