Kofa Mountains

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Kofa Mountains
USA Arizona relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Kofa Mountains
Kofa Mountains, Arizona
Highest point
PeakSignal Peak
Elevation 4,877 ft (1,487 m)
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
Range coordinates 33°19′48″N113°57′13″W / 33.3300344°N 113.9535457°W / 33.3300344; -113.9535457
Wulfenite specimen from the old King of Arizona mine Wulfenite-49063.jpg
Wulfenite specimen from the old King of Arizona mine

The Kofa Mountains (Yavapai: Wi:kasayeo) 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. [1] 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.

Contents

These mountains are home to a number of endemic or rare species including the Kofa Mountain Barberry Berberis harrisoniana . In addition, it contains the only native California fan palms in the state of Arizona located high up in Palm Canyon. These are relicts of the ice age when the range of California fan palms was much larger than its isolated groves today.

The Kofa Mountains are a northwest-southeast range with an extension northwards meeting the New Water Mountains. There are three major peaks in the high region: two in the west: Signal Peak at 4,877 feet (1,487 m) and Squaw Peak at 4,416 feet (1,346 m), and Polaris Mountain at 3,624 feet (1,105 m) in the south.

The closest community to the Kofa Mountains is Quartzsite, 30 miles northwest on Interstate 10. Access roads to the range depart a north-south stretch of US 95, five miles to the west. There are a number of winter homes in King Valley. [2]

The wildlife refuge and the Kofa Mountains are arid and rugged volcanic remnant mountains of Tertiary age. They are home to one of the larger Desert Bighorn Sheep ranges. The wildlife refuge and the mountains are some of the hottest areas in the southwest Sonoran Desert.

Origin of name

The Kofa Mountains are named for the rich King of Arizona gold mine, discovered in King Valley in 1896. The mine used to stamp its property "K of A" and is commonly known as the Kofa Mine. The old mine and its surroundings are private property. [2] The Kofa, Arizona post office was established June 5, 1900 and was discontinued August 27, 1928. [3] Some of the old buildings are still in use as winter homes.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kofa National Wildlife Refuge</span> Protected area in Arizona

The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is located in Arizona in the southwestern United States, northeast of Yuma and southeast of Quartzsite. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect desert bighorn sheep, encompasses over 665,400 acres (2,693 km2) of the Yuma Desert region of the Sonoran Desert. Broad, gently sloping foothills as well as the sharp, needlepoint peaks of the Kofa Mountains are found in the rugged refuge. The small, widely scattered waterholes attract a surprising number of water birds for a desert area. A wide variety of plant life is also found throughout the refuge. Kofa Wilderness takes up 547,719 acres of the refuge, making it the second largest wilderness area in Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trigo Mountains Wilderness</span> Protected area in Yuma County, Arizona

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trigo Mountains</span> Landform in La Paz County, Arizona

The Trigo Mountains are a north-south trending mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, bordering the Colorado River on the east in the Lower Colorado River Valley. The range lies north of the Colorado River as it turns east, north of Martinez Lake and the Imperial Reservoir. The Trigo Mountains are on a north-south stretch of the Colorado River, and form the eastern perimeter of the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge.

The Copper Mountains is a minor north–south trending mountain range, only 8 miles long in southwestern Arizona in the southwestern Sonoran Desert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinajas Altas Mountains</span> Landform in Yuma County, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico

The Tinajas Altas Mountains are an extremely arid northwest–southeast trending mountain range in southern Yuma County, Arizona, approximately 35 mi southeast of Yuma, Arizona. The southern end of the range extends approximately one mile into the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora on the northern perimeter of the Gran Desierto de Altar. The range is about 22 mi in length and about 4 mi wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is unnamed and is 2,766 feet above sea level and is located at 32°16'26"N, 114°02'48"W. Aside from the portion of the range in Mexico, the entirety of the range lies within the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. They lie at the heart of the traditional homeland of the Hia C-eḍ O'odham people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Water Mountains</span> Landform in La Paz County, Arizona

The New Water Mountains is a mountain range in southwestern Arizona. The range is on the northern border of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge as well as the northern Kofa Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muggins Mountains</span> Landform in Yuma County, Arizona

The Muggins Mountains is a mountain range in southwest Arizona east of Yuma, Arizona, northeast of the Gila Mountains, and east of the Laguna Mountains. The Castle Dome Mountains lie to the northeast across the broad Castle Dome Plain. The Muggins Mountains Wilderness occupies the southwest portion of the range.

Black Dome is the second highest point on the west end of the Tank Mountains, located in the northwestern Sonoran Desert in northeastern Yuma County, Arizona and 57 miles (92 km) east northeast of the city of Yuma, Arizona.

The Tank Mountains are a mountain range in the Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona; the range is part of the southeastern border of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

The Cabeza Prieta Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona.

The Bryan Mountains are a small mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona. The range is located in southeastern Yuma County, about 75 mi (121 km) southeast of Yuma and about 35 mi (56 km) west of Ajo. The range is approximately ten miles long and about three miles wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is 1,794 feet above sea level and is located at 32°18'27"N, 113°22'46"W. The range is located entirely within the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gila Mountains (Yuma County)</span> Landform in Arizona

The Gila Mountains of Yuma County are a 26-mile (42 km) long mountain range in southwestern Arizona in the northwest Sonoran Desert.

The Sierra Pinta or Sierra Pintas are a narrow remote block faulted northwest-southeast trending mountain range, about 22 miles (35 km) long located in southwestern Arizona in the arid northwestern Sonoran Desert, just north of the Pinacate Reserve of northern Sonora, Mexico. The mountains derive their name from visitor descriptions of its multicolored hues when viewed at sunrise and sunset.

The Dome Rock Mountains are a mountain range in southern La Paz County, Arizona. The range borders the Colorado River on the west and the Colorado River Indian Reservation on the northwest located in the Lower Colorado River Valley. Quartzsite, Arizona lies on the eastern foothills of the range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Dome Mountains</span> Landform in Yuma County, Arizona, US

The Castle Dome Mountains are a mountain range in Yuma County, Arizona, within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Castle Dome Peak, the high point of the range, is a prominent butte and distinctive landmark. The peak is 3,780 feet (1,152 m) high, and is located at 33°05′04″N 114°08′36″W. Castle Dome was named by American soldiers at old Fort Yuma in the 1880s. Early Spanish explorers called the same peak Cabeza de Gigante, "Giant's Head."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altar Valley</span> Valley in southern Arizona

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laguna Mountains (Arizona)</span> Landform in Yuma County, Arizona

The Laguna Mountains are a small, approximately circular mountain range of extreme southwest Arizona northeast of Yuma and east of Winterhaven, California on the Colorado River. The Colorado forms the western perimeter of the mountains; Mittry Lake, on the Colorado is on its northwest.

Castle Dome, or Castle Dome Peak is a prominent butte and high point of the Castle Dome Mountains northeast of Yuma, Arizona, in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.

<i>Berberis harrisoniana</i> Species of shrub

Berberis harrisoniana is a rare species of flowering plant in the barberry family, Berberidaceae. It is known by the common names Kofa barberry, Kofa Mountain barberry, Harrison's barberry, and red barberry.

References

  1. "Home – Kofa – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
  2. 1 2 Peter Massey & Jeanne Wilson, 2006, Backcountry Adventures Arizona, Adler Publishing, ISBN   1930193289 [ page needed ]
  3. Kofa Arizona ghost town