2021 Map of West of Palen Pass

About this map

Granite Mountains rise in the northeast corner of this Colorado Desert landscape, where steep contours define the high ground above a vast alluvial plain. The map reveals a sparse but deliberate transportation network, dominated by the north-south corridor of Rice Rd and the intersecting Coxcomb Monument Rd. These routes represent the primary human imprint on an otherwise desert environment, cutting through the geometric sections of the Public Land Survey System. The arrangement of the landscape emphasizes the scale of the open desert floor, where drainage patterns and subtle elevation changes are the primary landmarks. This survey by the U.S. Geological Survey captures the isolation and structural layout of this Riverside County region, where infrastructure is limited to these critical desert thoroughfares.