Sierra Valley is a large mountain valley located east of the crest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range in Plumas and Sierra Counties, north of Interstate 80. An intermontane valley at approximately 4,850 feet elevation, Sierra Valley is surrounded by mountains ranging in elevation from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. The huge valley covering about 590 square …Sierra Valley is a large mountain valley located east of the crest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range in Plumas and Sierra Counties, north of Interstate 80. An intermontane valley at approximately 4,850 feet elevation, Sierra Valley is surrounded by mountains ranging in elevation from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. The huge valley covering about 590 square miles is a down-faulted basin, formerly a lake of similar geologic origin to Lake Tahoe to the south, now filled with sediment up to two thousand feet thick. The former Lake has the suggested name of Lake Beckwourth and existed until approximately 10,000 years ago. Average annual rainfall is less than twenty inches, most falling as snow.
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