Panamint Range

---

title: "Panamint Range" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["panamint-range", "death-valley", "mountain-ranges-of-the-mojave-desert", "mountain-ranges-of-inyo-county,-california", "mountain-ranges-of-southern-california", "death-valley-national-park", "protected-areas-of-the-mojave-desert"] description: "Mountain range in Death Valley, California, U.S." topic_path: "general/panamint-range" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panamint_Range" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain range in Death Valley, California, U.S. ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Panamint Range
photo	Panamint Range looking toward Telescope Peak.JPG
photo_caption	Panamint Range looking toward Telescope Peak
country	United States
state	California
district	Inyo County
topo_map	Telescope Peak
topo_maker	USGS
range_coordinates
range_coordinates_ref
highest	Telescope Peak
elevation_ft	11043
elevation_ref
coordinates
coordinates_ref
length_mi
width_mi
map_image	Wpdms shdrlfi020l death valley.jpg
map_caption	Map of Death Valley region
map_size	270
::

| name = Panamint Range | native_name = | other_name = | etymology = | photo = Panamint Range looking toward Telescope Peak.JPG | photo_caption = Panamint Range looking toward Telescope Peak | country = United States | state = California | region = | district = Inyo County | topo_map = Telescope Peak | topo_maker = USGS | border = | range_coordinates = | range_coordinates_ref= | highest = Telescope Peak | elevation_ft = 11043 | elevation_ref= | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | length_mi = | length_orientation = | width_mi = | width_orientation = | area_mi2 = | geology = | orogeny = | period = | map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l death valley.jpg | map_caption = Map of Death Valley region | map_size = 270 The Panamint Range is a short rugged fault-block mountain range in the northern Mojave Desert, within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, eastern California. A small part of the southern end of the range is in San Bernardino County. Dr. Darwin French is credited as applying the term Panamint in 1860 during his search for the fabled Gunsight Lode.

The origin of the name is the Paiute or Koso word Panümünt or Pa (water) and nïwïnsti (person).

Geography

The range runs north–south for approximately 100 mi through Inyo County, forming the western wall of Death Valley and separating it from the Panamint Valley to the west. The range is part of the Basin and Range Province, at the western end of the Great Basin.

The highest peak in the range is Telescope Peak, with an elevation of 11043 ft.

Features

Both Mount Whitney above the Owens Valley and Badwater Basin in Death Valley are visible from certain vantage points in the Panamint Range, making it one of few places where one can simultaneously see both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States. Dante's View east of Death Valley is another.

Being a sky island habitat of the Mojave Desert, with more precipitation and temperature variation than the desert floor and hills, there are various plant and animal species endemic to the Panamint Range.

Mining

The Panamint Mining District is on the western side of the Panamint Range. Panamint City (est. 1873) was a mining town in the district, formerly in the central section of the range.

The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns (completed 1877) are ruins of charcoal kilns located near Wildrose Canyon in the northern range and within Death Valley National Park. They were built in 1877 by the Modock Consolidated Mining Company, to provide fuel for smelters near their lead and silver mines in the Argus Range. The ten beehive shaped masonry structures, about 25 ft tall, are the best known surviving examples of such charcoal kilns in the western U.S. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Wildrose_Charcoal_Kilns.jpg" caption="[[Wildrose charcoal kilns"] ::

References

References

1. {{cite gnis
2. {{cite ngs
3. "Archived copy".
4. (1998). "California place names : the origin and etymology of current geographical names". University of California Press.
5. (1998). "California place names : the origin and etymology of current geographical names". University of California Press.
6. (15 January 2015). "The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park".
7. [https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/deva/section3a1.htm Death Valley National Park: Panamint Mining District]
8. The historic [[mining community]] of [[Ballarat, California
9. [https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/charcoalkilns.htm Death Valley National Park: Wildrose Charcoal Kilns]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::