| Gibraltar Mountain Wilderness | |
|---|---|
| Location | La Paz County, Arizona, USA |
| Nearest city | Parker, AZ |
| Coordinates | 34°10′3″N114°5′46″W / 34.16750°N 114.09611°W Coordinates: 34°10′3″N114°5′46″W / 34.16750°N 114.09611°W |
| Area | 18,790 acres (76 km2) |
| Established | 1990 |
| Governing body | U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management |
Gibraltar Mountain Wilderness is a protected wilderness area on the western edge of the Buckskin Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act the area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This desert wilderness is primarily volcanic tuff crossed with deep canyons and sandy washes. [1]
The namesake peak Gibraltar Mountain rises to an elevation of 1,568 feet (477 m), but is not the high point of the wilderness area. Vegetation in the area includes creosote bush, cholla, barrel cactus, and palo verde that support a small population of desert bighorn sheep. [2]
San Bernardino County, officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 2,035,210, making it the fifth-most populous county in California and the 14th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is San Bernardino.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Grand Canyon National Park to just north of the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. It includes all of the eponymous Lake Mead as well as the smaller Lake Mohave – reservoirs on the river created by Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, respectively – and the surrounding desert terrain and wilderness.
The Tonto National Forest, encompassing 2,873,200 acres, is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the fifth largest national forest in the United States. The forest has diverse scenery, with elevations ranging from 1,400 feet in the Sonoran Desert to 7,400 feet in the ponderosa pine forests of the Mogollon Rim. The Tonto National Forest is also the most visited "urban" forest in the United States.
The Big Maria Mountains are located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of California, near the Colorado River and Arizona. The range lies between Blythe and Vidal, and west of U.S. Route 95 in California and east of Midland. The mountains are home to the Eagle Nest Mine and reach an elevation of 1,030 meters, (3,379 ft). A power line that runs from Parker Dam to Yuma, Arizona runs through the range. A smaller range, the Little Maria Mountains, lie to the west of the Big Marias.
The Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness is a wilderness area located in northwestern Arizona and southwestern Utah, USA, within the arid Colorado Plateau region. The jagged mountains and gently sloping alluvial plain of the Beaver Dam Mountains straddle the border between the two states. The Wilderness contains some of the lowest elevation land in Utah, and includes a 13 miles (21 km) section of the Virgin River Gorge. The area comprises some 18,667 acres (7,554 ha), 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) of which in Arizona and approximately 3,667 acres (1,484 ha) in Utah. The area was designated Wilderness by the U.S. Congress in 1984 and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Superstition Mountains is a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain, a large mountain that is a popular recreation destination for residents of the Phoenix, Arizona, area.
Hells Canyon Wilderness is a 9,951 acre wilderness area in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Phoenix in Maricopa and southeast Yavapai counties.
Trigo Mountains Wilderness is a 30,300-acre (12,262 ha) wilderness area in the U.S. state of Arizona and was established in 1990. It is located 30 miles (48 km) north of Yuma east of the Colorado River in an area called the Lower Colorado River Valley. It is a 15-mile (24 km) stretch of ridgeline of the rugged desert Trigo Mountains and is adjacent to historical mines, the Red Cloud and Hart Mine. These rugged desert mountain ecosystems are home to the Desert Bighorn Sheep.
The Kofa Mountains of Yuma and La Paz counties in Arizona is the central mountain range of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The range lies about 60 miles northeast of Yuma in the southwestern part of the state. Kofa Wilderness takes up 547,719 acres of the refuge, making it the second largest wilderness area in Arizona. The equally extensive Castle Dome Mountains comprise the southern refuge border; the western end of the Tank Mountains are in the southeast of the wildlife refuge, and the New Water Wilderness in the New Water Mountains ends the extension of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge to the north. Scenic "King Valley" is south of the Kofa Mountains between the Castle Dome Mountains.
The Bill Williams River is a 46.3-mile-long (74.5 km) river in west-central Arizona where it, along with its tributary, the Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County to the north and La Paz County to the south. It is a major drainage westwards into the Colorado River of the Lower Colorado River Valley south of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, and the drainage basin covers portions of northwest, and west-central Arizona. The equivalent drainage system paralleling the east–west lower reaches of the Bill Williams is the Gila River, which flows east-to-west across central Arizona, joining the Colorado River in the southwest at Yuma. The confluence of the Bill Williams River with the Colorado is north of Parker, and south of Lake Havasu City.
Upper Burro Creek Wilderness is a 27,440-acre wilderness area located in Yavapai and Mohave Counties in the U.S. state of Arizona, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the town of Bagdad It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness is a 50,232-acre (203.28 km2) wilderness area located in the Dixie National Forest in the U.S. state of Utah. It is the fourth-largest wilderness area located entirely within the state. The wilderness designation protects the Pine Valley Mountain range, a large rock outcrop surrounded by desert. The Pine Valley Mountains form the Pine Valley Laccolith, one of the largest laccoliths in the United States. Elevations in the wilderness range from 6,000 feet (1,800 m) to 10,365 feet (3,159 m) at the summit of Signal Peak.
The Buckskin Mountains is a mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north–south Colorado River, and borders south of the east–west, west-flowing Bill Williams River.
The Belmont Mountains are a 25 mi (40 km) long, arid, low elevation mountain range about 50 mi west of Phoenix, Arizona in the northern Sonoran Desert, north of the Gila River. The range is in the south of a region of two parallel washes; the Bouse Wash flows northwest to the Colorado River, and the Centennial Wash flows southeast to meet the Gila River.
Mount Wilson is a mountain in Mohave County, Arizona, U.S. At 5,456 feet (1,663 m), it is the second highest point of the Black Mountains after Mount Perkins.
Woolsey Peak Wilderness is a protected wilderness area centered around its namesake Woolsey Peak, rising 2,500 feet to a summit at 3270 feet in the Gila Bend Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act the area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This desert wilderness is best described as "a perfect example of pristine Sonoran Desert."
Signal Mountain Wilderness is a protected wilderness area centered around its namesake Signal Mountain, rising 1,200 feet (370 m) to a summit at 2,057 feet (627 m) in the Gila Bend Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, the area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The desert wilderness is made up of steep canyons, winding arroyos, and volcanic peaks within a Sonoran Desert ecosystem.
Wabayuma Peak Wilderness is a protected wilderness area centered around its namesake Wabayuma Peak, rising to 7,601 feet in the Hualapai Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act the area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This desert and mountain wilderness exists in between the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts, filled with massive ridgelines that rise from the desert floor.
Table Top Wilderness is a protected wilderness area centered around its namesake Table Top Mountain, a summit of 4,373 feet in the Table Top Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act the area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is located in the Sonoran Desert National Monument south of Interstate 8 between the towns of Casa Grande and Gila Bend. The flat-topped mesa rises from the desert floor in Vekol Valley to the east surrounded by smaller canyons and desert washes with views of the desert plain in all directions. There are two established trails in the wilderness area, one of which leads to the summit.
Mount Nutt Wilderness is a protected wilderness area in the central part of the Black Mountains in the U.S. state of Arizona. It was established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, and it is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This desert wilderness sits among a maze of desert canyons and steep mesas, surrounded by volcanic plugs.