SAND TO SNOW NATIONAL MONUMENT — Sand to Snow National Monument is a quiet place — its mountainous high desert and cascading streams a draw for those seeking panoramic views, tranquility and solitude.

But on a recent morning, the serenity was ruined by a menacing bellowing, making it clear passing hikers weren’t alone.

On a ridgeline near a popular stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail, five feral bulls, each the size of a small car, were snorting, stomping and pawing the ground — postures indicating they were ready to charge.

The bulls gazed down on human observers; some lowered their footlong horns. Then they lumbered on, trampling the trail and devouring native vegetation in one of California’s newest national monuments.

Peering through binoculars, Terry Anderson, a board member of the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep, saw a species he doesn’t consider worthy of conservation in the wild lands near Palm Springs.