Gower Gulch (Death Valley)
Encyclopedia
Gower Gulch is a small gulch on the eastern side of Death Valley
in Inyo County, California
. It is located in the Black Mountains
. Gower Gulch is visible from Zabriskie Point
and is about one and a half miles long.
and co-owner of the Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch
, before Death Valley became a national monument. The gulch contained mines, camps, and roads during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
There are two areas of dry waterfalls: the Upper Knickzone near Zabriskie Point
and the Lower Knickzone near the gulch's Alluvial fan
. The tallest fall, at the head of the alluvial fan, is approximately 25 ft. high, the only way around it being a ledge on the northern side of the fan. The alluvial fan has a deep channel, called a telescoping channel, that runs north-west from Gower Gulch's mouth.
mine claims in the gulch. many of these mines are still visible today, though mines on the floor bed of Gower Gulch have been filled in with sediment from past floods.
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
in Inyo County, California
Inyo County, California
-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...
. It is located in the Black Mountains
Black Mountains (California)
The Black Mountains are located in the southeastern part of Inyo County, California, in southeast Death Valley National Park.-Geography:The Black Mountains are essentially a continuation of the Amargosa Range, and lie in a generally north-south direction at the south-southwest end...
. Gower Gulch is visible from Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located in east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in the United States noted for its erosional landscape...
and is about one and a half miles long.
History
Gower Gulch is named after Harry P. Gower, an official of the Pacific Coast Borax CompanyPacific Coast Borax Company
The Pacific Coast Borax Company was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis "Borax" Smith, the "Borax King".-History:...
and co-owner of the Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch
Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort
The Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort is a privately owned luxury resort in California's Death Valley National Park operated by Xanterra.-Furnace Creek Inn:...
, before Death Valley became a national monument. The gulch contained mines, camps, and roads during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Geology
Gower Gulch passes through three geological formations:- the Badlands in the eastern-most portion
- the Artist's Pallet Formation mid channel
- the Playa Formation at the channel head.
There are two areas of dry waterfalls: the Upper Knickzone near Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located in east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in the United States noted for its erosional landscape...
and the Lower Knickzone near the gulch's Alluvial fan
Alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...
. The tallest fall, at the head of the alluvial fan, is approximately 25 ft. high, the only way around it being a ledge on the northern side of the fan. The alluvial fan has a deep channel, called a telescoping channel, that runs north-west from Gower Gulch's mouth.
Mining
Gower Gulch was mined in after the 1880s, when a 1+1/2 mi road starting at the northern side of Zabriskie Point was built by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. This road allowed wagons and autos to reach the ten boraxBorax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
mine claims in the gulch. many of these mines are still visible today, though mines on the floor bed of Gower Gulch have been filled in with sediment from past floods.