Zone X9b, California

Steep, mountainous eastern-Sierra terrain. Per the boundary in Title 14 Section 360, the zone runs along Highway 395 in the Owens Valley up through high country toward the Inyo-Tulare and Inyo-Fresno crest (Cottonwood Pass, Piute Pass). Elevations across the broader Eastern Sierra deer range span from roughly 4,000 ft in the eastside valleys to 10,000-14,000 ft along the Sierra crest. Public land in the zone is generally steep.

Zone X9b is approximately 99% public land managed by the Inyo National Forest (Mount Whitney and White Mountain Ranger Districts) and BLM, with private parcels and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) land concentrated at lower elevations along the Owens Valley floor — overnight camping is not permitted on LADWP lands. US Highway 395 is the primary corridor running north-south through the zone (Bishop to Lone Pine), and the main west-side access roads branch off it: State Route 168 (Line Street west from Bishop) climbs into Bishop Creek Canyon with paved spurs to North Lake Road (trailhead for Piute Pass / John Muir Wilderness) and South Lake Road (trailhead for Bishop Pass); Glacier Lodge Road departs US-395 in Big Pine and travels 11 paved miles to the Big Pine Creek trailheads (North and South Fork); Onion Valley Road runs 13 miles west of Independence to the Onion Valley trailhead at 9,200 ft (Kearsarge Pass entry); and from Lone Pine, Whitney Portal Road leads to the Mt. Whitney Portal trailhead while Horseshoe Meadow Road climbs 20 miles to the Cottonwood Pass and Cottonwood Lakes trailheads at roughly 10,000 ft. For higher and more remote terrain, the rough dirt Taboose Creek Road branches west off US-395 about 12 miles south of Big Pine to reach the Taboose Pass trailhead after approximately 6 miles on an unmaintained, high-clearance-recommended road. All canyon-head trailheads serve as the sole motorized staging points for the unit's high country — the zone's upper elevations fall within the John Muir Wilderness and Golden Trout Wilderness where motorized and mechanical travel is prohibited. Lower-elevation OHV opportunities exist on Coyote Flat (steep, rocky, 4WD required) and McMurry Meadows Road near Big Pine. The canyon roads (Onion Valley Road, Horseshoe Meadow Road, Whitney Portal Road) typically close due to snow from approximately November through April; check current conditions with the Inyo National Forest at (760) 873-2400 before travel.

Vegetation grades by elevation, typical of the eastern Sierra / Inyo deer ranges: high-desert sagebrush and bitterbrush scrub and riparian zones at lower elevations, pinyon-juniper woodland (single-leaf pinyon pine and Utah juniper) at mid elevations, and subalpine conifer forest and alpine zones near the crest. Downslope encroachment of pinyon-juniper woodland into shrub/grassland forage is a recognized habitat concern in the adjacent Inyo/White Mountain range.

Mule deer (Inyo/eastern-Sierra mule deer). These are migratory herds that move seasonally with elevation, summering in high alpine and subalpine habitat near the Sierra crest and wintering in lower, warmer valley habitat (Owens Valley and adjacent eastside valleys). The rut in this region generally runs from late October through December. The adjacent Inyo/White Mountain herd (X9c) was studied beginning in 2004 due to concern over population decline, so herd trend across the X9 complex is mixed.