The South Coast Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, in central California. The South Coast Ranges run north and south, parallel to the Pacific Coast, between San Francisco Bay to the north, the California Central Valley to the east, the Transverse Ranges to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The South Coast Ranges include the Berkeley Hills, Mount Diablo, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Diablo Range of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Gabilan Range, Santa Lucia Range, and Temblor Range of the Central Coast. ranges, including the Salinas Valley and the Carrizo Plain.
The South Coast Ranges have a Mediterranean climate, and are mostly within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, although the western slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains lies within the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion. The Northern California coastal forests are characterized by forests of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Enclaves of redwood forest also occur in the Santa Lucia Range. The California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion has a great range of plant communities, including mixed evergreen forests, oak woodlands and savannas, grasslands, northern coastal scrublands, and the Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) woodlands of the Monterey Peninsula and two other coastal enclaves. The highest point of the South Coast Ranges is Junipero Serra Peak, at 5,862 feet, however there are many peaks in the North Coast Ranges that are significantly higher.
Some of the rarest forests that occurs in this coastal region are the Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forests, an example of which occurs in the Carbonera Creek watershed of Santa Cruz County, California. These isolated groves may include Ponderosa pine, Douglas-firs, Santa Lucia Fir, and knobcone pine. Isolated groves of redwood are also found in coastal regions, making them the southernmost redwoods in California. More common are chaparral, oak, bay, sycamore, white alder and buckeye trees.
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