Devil's Punchbowl, elevation 4,750 ft (1450 m), is a tilted sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 formation in Los Angeles County. It is a county park within the Angeles National Forest

Angeles National Forest

The Angeles National Forest of the U.S. National Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, southern California. It was established on July 1, 1908, incorporating the first San Bernardino National Forest and parts of the former Santa Barbara and San Gabriel...

 on the northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains

San Gabriel Mountains

The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...

, near Littlerock, California

Littlerock, California

Littlerock is a census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 1,377 at the 2010 census, down from 1,402 at the 2000 census...

. Short trails within the park showcase the geologic features along the Punchbowl and San Andreas Fault

San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

s. There are connections to major longer trails leading to the high country.

The Devil's Punchbowl Nature Center is operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The center focuses on the flora, fauna, and geological features of the park, and the center offers school programs, parties, guided park tours, as well as telescope programs with an 11-inch telescope

Telescope

A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

.

Geology

The primary attractions of the park are its geological formations. The Punchbowl is a deep canyon categorized as a plunging syncline

Syncline

In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...

: a v-shaped folding of the earth's strata

Stratum

In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...

 caused by compression. The mountain peaks above the park are 8,000 feet in elevation, compared to the park's Nature Center at 4,740 feet above sea level. The Punchbowl Canyon is 300 feet deep at the vista point. The peculiar uptilted rock formations found in the area are layers of sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....

s formed long ago by water depositing loose material in horizontal layers. Later they were squeezed into their present, steeply-tilted form by ongoing uplift action along the Punchbowl and Pinyon Faults and by pressures along the San Andreas Fault. The Punchbowl Fault is to the south of the rock formation, while the Pinyon and San Andreas Faults are to the north. It is named this because it is spiked, like a punchbowl!

Flora

Vegetation contributes greatly to the particular appearance of any landscape, and it is rewarding to look at native vegetation as plant communities. Driving to the park, beginning down on the flats of the Antelope Valley

Antelope Valley

The Antelope Valley in California, United States, is located in northern Los Angeles County and the southeastern portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert...

, there is almost a complete absence of large shrubs or trees. The road then climbs into a belt of Joshua trees and California junipers. As you enter the park boundaries, the Joshuas are left behind and you enter a region dominated by Pinyon pine

Pinyon pine

The pinyon pine group grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. The trees yield edible pinyon nuts, which were a staple of the Native Americans, and are still widely eaten...

 Woodland, with shrubs of the Desert Chaparral

Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

 as an understory. The streambeds, both Punchbowl Creek at the bottom of the bowl and other watercourses in the Antelope Valley, have their own type of vegetation with cottonwoods, willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s, and other plants that require more water. The next plant community above the park is the Coulter Pine

Coulter Pine

The Coulter Pine or Big-cone Pine is a native of the coastal mountains of southern California and northern Baja California . Isolated groves are found as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area in Mt. Diablo State Park and Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve...

s and Yellow Pine

Yellow pine

Yellow pine may refer to the following:*Certain pines in the subgenus Pinus subgenus Pinus:**In American forestry, a term for several closely related species of pine with yellow tinted wood, including the Southern Yellow Pines , and the non-Southern yellow pines and several others...

 Forest of the higher San Gabriel Mountains. Above these trees, White Fir

White Fir

White Fir is a fir native to the mountains of western North America, occurring at altitudes of 900-3,400 m. It is a medium to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–60 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m . It is popular as an ornamental landscaping tree and as a Christmas Tree...

s are silhouetted against the sky on the high slopes and peaks.

Fauna

Many types of mammals live here but most are nocturnal and are seldom seen. Gray fox

Gray Fox

The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...

es may sometimes be seen in the early mornings or at dusk, and you may occasionally see deer crossing the road. Chipmunk

Chipmunk

Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

s and California ground squirrel

California Ground Squirrel

The California ground squirrel , is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada...

s are active during most of the day. A few common birds are on display, and many additional species migrate through the area at various times of the year. The park's reptile and amphibian fauna represent a unique blend of types found in both deserts and mountains. Examples of some common local reptiles and amphibians are on display. Rattlesnake

Rattlesnake

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...

s are also common but are wary of people and are rarely encountered. Insects and spiders are seasonally abundant. They may be seen on flowers and shrubs throughout the park, especially during the spring and summer. A representative collection of the various orders of insects is on display.

Filming location

The Australian band Wolfmother

Wolfmother

Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...

recorded their music video for the song Mind's Eye at the Devil's Punchbowl.

External links

• Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area - official site
• Hiking information
• Localhikes.com