Location:
The Eldorado National Forest is located in the central Sierra Nevada. Portions of Alpine, Amador, El Dorado, and Placer counties lie within the Forest Boundary. The forest is bordered on the north by the Tahoe National Forest, on the east by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, on the southeast by the Humboldt-Toiyabe, and to the south by the Stanislaus National Forest.

The forest is located within 3 - 4 hours driving time from the San Francisco Bay Area, a metropolitan complex of 4.5 million people. Sacramento is located within 1 - 1 1/2 hours driving time from the forest with a population of over 1,000,000 people.

Climate:
A Mediterranean type climate extends over most of the Forest with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters.

• Annual Precipitation: 40 - 70 inches on average.
• Precipitation falls mainly from October through April.
• Temperature Range: 0 degrees in winter to 100 degrees in summer.
• Snow pack: 5 - 10 feet on average, can be as high as 15 feet.
• Snow present from December to May at elevations above 6,000 feet.

Elevation:
The Forest ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet above sea level along the Sierra crest. The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons.

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