Coast Ranges are a system of mountain ranges that forms the western coast of North America for about 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers). The ranges extend from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to southern California. Ten separate mountain ranges make up the Coast Ranges region. The Kodiak, Kenai, Chugach, and St. Elias ranges, and the Alexander Archipelago, a group of islands formed by the tops of sunken mountains, are in Alaska. The Haida Gwaii island group and the Vancouver Range are in British Columbia. The Oregon Coast Range extends from southern Washington to central Oregon. The California Coast Range is in central California, and the Los Angeles Ranges rise along the coast of southern California. The Coast Ranges are interrupted by the Olympic Mountains in northwestern Washington and by the Klamath Mountains in southern Oregon.
The northern coast is sunk in great bays and straits from Shelikof Strait to Puget Sound. The southern coastline is high and regular, broken only by a few harbors.
See also United States (The Pacific Ranges and Lowlands) .
