| Castle Mountains National Monument | |
|---|---|
Castle Peaks (Mojave National Preserve) as seen from Castle Mountains National Monument | |
| Location | San Bernardino County,California |
| Coordinates | 35°15′N115°07′W / 35.25°N 115.11°W /35.25; -115.11 |
| Area | 20,920 acres (8,470 ha) |
| Authorized | February 12, 2016 (2016-02-12) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Castle Mountains National Monument |

Castle Mountains National Monument is aU.S. National Monument located in the easternMojave Desert and northeasternSan Bernardino County, in the state ofCalifornia.[1][2][3]
The park protects 20,920 acres, located between the interstatesI−15 andI−40, and northwest of theColorado River.
The national monument protects a section of theCastle Mountains, a range located in San Bernardino County andClark County, Nevada. The range lies south and east of theNew York Mountains, southwest ofSearchlight and west ofCal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. The range lies at the northeastern end ofLanfair Valley and reaches 5,543 feet (1,690 m) in elevation at the summit of Hart Peak and 5580 ft at Linder Peak. The mountains lie in a southwest-northeasterly direction. ThePiute Range lies to the southeast.[4]
Castle Mountains National Monument is surrounded on three sides by theMojave National Preserve, managed by theNational Park Service.
It surrounds the Castle Mountain Mine Area, anopen pitgold mine in the southern Castle Mountains owned by Canadian NewCastle Gold Ltd., who can excavate nearly 10 million tons of ore through 2025, though due to low gold prices mining has been suspended since 2001.[2][5] The national monument proclamation states that after any such mining and reclamation are completed, or after 10 years if no mining occurs, the Federal land in the 8,340 acre Castle Mountain Mine Area is to be transferred to the National Park Service.[5]
It was designated byPresident Obama on February 12, 2016, along withMojave Trails National Monument andSand to Snow National Monument also inSouthern California.[1][6] Of the three it is the only one to be managed by theNational Park Service, with the other two being placed under the control of theBureau of Land Management and/or theUnited States Forest Service.[7][8][9][10][11]