Sacramento Valley, California, USA September 1996 The Sacramento River Valley is a flat, fertile plain that is flanked by high mountains to the east and lower but rugged hills to the west. The central valley of the Sacramento Basin narrows near the northern end of the valley. The deeply eroded and wooded southwestern flank of a mountain range that includes Mt. Lassen (not in this image) covers the northeastern third of the picture (dark terrain). Several lower, paralleling hilly ridges are visible along the western side of the valley. Black Butte Lake, a small Y-shaped reservoir, is barely visible near the edge of these folded beds (west center). Within the valley, the Sacramento River floodplain (and the river’s channels) can be traced across a landscape that is covered by a multitude of cultivated fields (angular-looking patterns, variety of colors). Interstate Highway 5 is observed as it runs north-south along the western side of the Sacramento Valley. The location of Chico (gray fine-textured feature) is barely discernible along the eastern side of the valley