Science Fair Project Encyclopedia The Spring Mountains are a
mountain range of southern Nevada in the United States, running
generally northwest-southeast along the west side of Las Vegas
and down to the border with California. The highest point is
Mount Charleston, at 11,918 ft (3,362 m). The range is named for
the number of springs to be found, many of them in the recesses
of Red Rock Canyon, which is on the eastern side of the
mountains. The Spring Mountains divide the Pahrump Valley and
Amargosa River basin from the Las Vegas Valley, which drains
into the Colorado River, thus the mountains define part of the
boundary of the Great Basin. With an area of about 2,220 sq km,
and a vertical range of nearly two miles, the mountains
encompass a wide variety of habitats, and the biological
diversity is probably greater than anywhere else in Nevada. 37
species of trees are known (more than any other Nevadan range),
and 600 species of vascular plants have been reported from the
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation