Arklay Mountains

The Arklay Mountains, is a region within the midwestern United States near Raccoon City.

Located generally on the outskirts of Raccoon City, the Arklay Mountains faced heavy traffic from the notorious Umbrella Corporation, who maintained several large facilities in the region, including the Arklay Laboratory and Research Center.

Location and ecology
The Arklay Mountains are situated northwest of Raccoon City, and are a popular hiking and camping destination frequented regularly by Raccoon's nature-loving populace as well as the tourists to the area. Most of the Arklay region is unused and is almost completely covered with heavy vegetation.

The Arklay Mountains are classified as temperate hardwood forest, with the region being dominated by Pine trees, Maple trees, Oak trees and other native plant life such as Raccoon City's signature coloured herbs. The herbs were first discovered in the Arklay region and are often used for medicinal purposes both locally and abroad. The Arklay Mountains are well known throughout the medical community, with the Green, Blue, and Red herbs having revolutionized the healthcare industry and garnered massive profits for pharmaceutical companies (including, but not limited to, the Umbrella Corporation). Each herb has its own unique medicinal value and,



being completely natural, have no known side effects associated with their use. They can be mixed together and converted into capsule or powder form to achieve different curative effects. The herbs can be found in many areas of Raccoon City, including several of the city's key public buildings, such as the Raccoon Police Department (R.P.D.). The citizens of Raccoon City have also been known to keep the herbs in their houses and places of employment for decoration or use.

Current Status
It should be mentioned that it is unlikely that all B.O.W's present during the Arklay Mountain outbreak were within the vicinity of Umbrella complexes when they were destroyed. It is also improbable that they were destroyed during Mission Code: XX (the destruction of Raccoon City). In order to guarantee the "sterilization" of the mountains (which are roughly 11 miles away from Raccoon City), a thermonuclear missile with a yield exceeding 100 MT would have had to been fielded (since Official Canon states that Raccoon City was destroyed by a single thermonuclear missile). However, to date there is no nuclear device capable of that yield, and if one were to exist, it would have to be deployed from a bomber, not a missile (due to its size and weight), which would contradict official canon. It's also unlikely that the US government preformed a sweep of the Arklay Mountains, given the impracticality of securing miles of rugged, mountainous terrain. Even bombing the Arklay Mountains would be of little use, given infected creatures like the Cerberus could have traveled beyond the Arklay Mountains in the 3 months leading to the Raccoon City outbreak. Thus, current status of the Arklay Mountains is unknown.

Locations

 * Arklay Laboratory
 * Umbrella Research Center
 * Mendez River
 * Victory Lake
 * Circular River
 * Marble River
 * Aimes River
 * Route 6 - The Raccoon City Police Department sets up one of several roadblocks here to prevent access to the Arklay Mountains after reports of mysterious creatures appearing and murdering people.

Arklay in other media
There are several references to the Arklay Mountains in the Resident Evil films. Resident Evil
 * In the 2002 film Resident Evil, the mansion is located on the outskirts of Raccoon City and is the emergency entry point into The Hive. In a brief shot, the Arklay Mountains are visible in the distance. The film's director, Paul W.S. Anderson, stated that this is a reference to the original Resident Evil video game.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse
 * In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the 2004 sequel to Resident Evil, an opening scene where Terri Morales (Sandrine Holt) is presenting the weather forecast, the Arklay Mountains are displayed and are located northeast of Raccoon City.
 * One of the overpasses located in Raccoon City is called Arklay Overpass.
 * When Major Cain (Thomas Kretschmann) orders Raccoon City to be sanitized, a brief shot shows the B-2 flying over the Arklay Forest.
 * The helicopter crash site at the end of Resident Evil: Apocalypse is located in the Arklay Mountains.