Walnut Creek (Playas Valley, New Mexico)

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Walnut Creek is an intermittent stream in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It has its source in the Animas Mountains on the east slope of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,720 feet / 2,048 meters at 31°33′15″N108°41′37″W / 31.55417°N 108.69361°W / 31.55417; -108.69361 . [1] Its mouth is located at an elevation of 4,524 feet / 1,379 meters where it subsides into the Playas Valley. [2]

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Hidalgo County, New Mexico County in the United States

Hidalgo County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,894. The county seat and largest city is Lordsburg. A bill creating Hidalgo from the southern part of Grant County was passed on February 25, 1919, taking effect at the beginning of 1920. The county was named for the town north of Mexico City where the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, which in turn was named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who is known as the "Father of Mexican Independence". This county abuts the Mexican border.

Animas Mountains

The Animas Mountains are a small mountain range in Hidalgo County, within the "Boot-Heel" region of far southwestern New Mexico, in the United States. They extend north-south for about 30 miles (50 km) along the Continental Divide, from near the town of Animas to a few miles north of the border with Mexico. The range is about 12 miles (20 km) wide at its widest. The highest point of the range is the southern summit of the mile-long Animas Peak massif, 8,565 feet (2,611 m). The Animas Mountains lie between the Animas Valley on the west and the Playas Valley on the east. Nearby ranges include the Peloncillo Mountains, across the Animas Valley, and the Big Hatchet and Little Hatchet Mountains, across the Playas Valley. Physiographically, the range divides into two parts. The compact southern part, which includes Animas Peak, is higher and wider, rising up to 4,000 ft above the nearby valleys. It has a sky island character, with dense coniferous forests at the higher elevations. The longer, narrow northern portion is lower, reaching only 7,310 ft at Gillespie Peak, and is characterized by grassland and piñon-juniper woods and shrubs. The Animas Mountains lie near the Chihuahuan Desert, the Sonoran Desert, the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, and the mountains surrounding the headwaters of the Gila River. Biotic influences from these regions, as well as the more distant Rocky Mountains, give the southern portion of the range a great diversity of species, including "approximately 130 species of birds, 60 species of mammals, and 40 species of reptiles."

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Laguña Creek

Laguña Creek also formerly also known as Tyende Creek, is a stream in the Navajo and Apache Counties of Arizona. Laguña Creek has its source at 36°41′15″N110°30′36″W, at the confluence of Long Canyon and Dowozhiebito Canyon at an elevation of 6325 feet / 1928 meters at the head of Tsegi Canyon. Its mouth is in the Chinle Valley at its confluence with Chinle Wash which together forms Chinle Creek, at an elevation of 4774 feet / 1455 meters. Chinle Creek is a tributary of San Juan River which is in turn a tributary of the Colorado River.

Chinle Wash

Chinle Wash is an arroyo, tributary to Chinle Creek in Apache County, Arizona. Its name is derived from the Navajo word ch'inili meaning 'where the waters came out'. Its sources is in Canyon de Chelly National Monument where Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto have their confluence at an elevation of 5,616 feet at 36°08′35″N109°29′17″W. It then trends northwest to its confluence with Laguña Creek where it forms Chinle Creek, 7 miles northeast of Dennehotso, Arizona at an elevation of 4,774 feet / 1,455 meters.

Aztec Pass is a gap and a valley between the Juniper Mountains and Santa Maria Mountains in Yavapai County, Arizona. The summit of the pass is at an elevation of 6,232 feet, at 34°56′12″N112°58′12″W the divide between Muddy Wash on the west and Walnut Creek on the east. The eastern entrance to the pass is at the mouth of the valley of Walnut Creek where it emerges from the hills on the west side of Chino Valley at 34°58′54″N112°38′04″W at an elevation of 4,583 feet / 1,397 meters. The western entrance to the pass is at the top of the valley of Muddy Wash at the foot of the Juniper Mountains, located at 34°58′30″N113°02′03″W.

Indian Creek originally known as Sage Creek, is a tributary stream of the Beaver River in Beaver County, Utah. Its mouth is at its confluence with the Beaver River at an elevation of 5,499 feet / 1,676 meters above the Minersville Reservoir, 0.4 miles south of Adamsville. Its source is at 38°24′31″N112°26′55″W, on the northwest slope of Mount Baldy at an elevation of 10,600 feet in the Tushar Mountains.

Elephant Butte is a summit in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It lies at an elevation of 6,361 feet / 1,939 meters, on the Cowboy Rim of the Animas Mountains.

Cowboy Rim is a cliff that runs along the Continental Divide in the Animas Mountains of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It runs west from a point at 31°36′34″N108°41′37″W to its highpoint is at an elevation of 6,591 feet / 2,009 meters at 31°36′36″N108°39′31″W just east of Elephant Butte. Here Cowboy Rim overlooks the Gillespie Creek valley below it to the north, and the Continental Divide runs along this section of the rim, then turns of to the south-southwest from the highpoint, along a ridge west of Elephant Butte Canyon. Cowboy Rim continues eastward to Elephant Butte then turns south-southeastward to 31°32′52″N108°37′22″W. This section of the Rim overlooks the Playas Valley below it to the east.

Bennett Creek is a tributary stream in Hidalgo County, New Mexico.

Gillespie Creek is an intermittent stream or arroyo in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Gillespie Creek is 11 miles long, that heads in the Animas Mountains at 31°37′10″N108°42′40″W, and flows northeasterly until it ends in the Playas Valley, at an elevation of 4,587 feet / 1,398 meters. Its waters in flood would reach Playas Lake. Its mouth is located 24 miles south southeast of Animas. Bennett Creek is a tributary that has its confluence with Gillespie Creek at 31°38′56″N108°37′23″W an elevation of 4,902 feet / 1,494 meters.

Elephant Butte Canyon or Lawhorn Canyon is a canyon in the Animas Mountains of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its stream is a tributary of Walnut Creek. Its mouth is located at elevation 5,535 feet / 1,687 feet at its confluence with Walnut Creek, just below Lawhorn Tank. Its source is located at 3.5 miles north northeast of its mouth 31°36′25″N108°39′20″W at an elevation of 6,050 feet / 1,844 meters on the southwest slope of Elephant Butte.

Animas Creek is an intermittent stream in the Animas Valley within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Is source is located at the confluence of Foster Draw and Taylor Draw, at 31°30′28″N108°52′09″W an elevation of 5,151 feet / 1,570 meters. Its mouth is in the Animas Valley, in at an elevation of 4,662 feet / 1,421 meters. However topographic maps show its wash runs farther northward to the southern outskirts of Animas, New Mexico at 31°55′51″N108°49′36″W.

Foster Draw is a valley and stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its mouth, located at its confluence with Taylor Draw, is the source of Animas Creek, at an elevation of 5,151 feet / 1,570 meters in the Animas Valley. Its source is at 31°28′57″N108°59′47″W in the Peloncillo Mountains.

Taylor Draw is a valley and stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its mouth, located at its confluence with Foster Draw, is the source of Animas Creek, at an elevation of 5,151 feet / 1,570 meters in the Animas Valley. Its source is at 31°31′15″N108°48′40″W in the Animas Mountains.

Walnut Creek is a tributary stream of Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico.

Whitmire Creek is a stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It is one of two creeks of that name that are tributary to Animas Creek in the Animas Valley. They both were named for J. B. Whitmire one of the first settlers that established the Whitmire Ranch in the area during the 1880s.

Whitmire Creek is a stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Its source is in Whitmire Canyon in the Peloncillo Mountains in Cochise County, Arizona. It is one of two creeks of that name that are tributary to Animas Creek in the Animas Valley. They both were named for J. B. Whitmire one of the first settlers that established the Whitmire Ranch in the area during the 1880s.

Bull Creek is a stream tributary to Animas Creek within Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Bull Creek is located east of Animas Creek, flows westward down from its source at 31°39′54″N108°41′28″W, at an elevation of approximately 5720 feet / 1,743 meters in the Animas Mountains to the east of the valley. It flows northwest from the west slope of Gillespie Mountain, to its confluence with Animas Creek in the Animas Valley at an elevation of 4,869 feet / 1,484 meters.

References

  1. ↑ 31°35′23″N108°38′38″W / 31.58972°N 108.64389°W given as the source on the GNIS Walnut Creek entry is in error.
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Walnut Creek

Coordinates: 31°29′36″N108°32′52″W / 31.49333°N 108.54778°W / 31.49333; -108.54778

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.


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