Laguna Mountains (Arizona)

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Laguna Mountains (Arizona)
Yuma arizona map.jpg
Cargo Muchacho & Chocolate Mountains-(W & NW)
( ~ ) Circular Laguna Mountains
(northeast of green agriculture)
(black range north: SE-(section)-Chocolate Mtns
Highest point
Peak Boot Peak
Elevation 1,080 ft (330 m)
Dimensions
Length7 mi (11 km)(N-S)
Width7 mi (11 km)(E-W)
Geography
USA Arizona relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
Region Lower Colorado River Valley
Gila River Valley
((northwest)-Sonoran Desert)
District Yuma County, Arizona
Settlement Yuma, AZ Fortuna Foothills, AZ
Winterhaven, CA
Range coordinates 32°49′23″N114°29′39″W / 32.82306°N 114.49417°W / 32.82306; -114.49417 Coordinates: 32°49′23″N114°29′39″W / 32.82306°N 114.49417°W / 32.82306; -114.49417
Borders on Colorado River -W
Mittry Lake-NW
Chocolate Mountains (California)-NW
Gila R. & Gila Mountains (Yuma County)-SE
Gila Valley (Yuma County) & Yuma Mesa-S

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.

Contents

The Gila River is on the southeast and south perimeter, then has its confluence with the Colorado River.

Only the north and northeast of the range is not bordered by a river basin; the north contains a small drainage west to the Colorado and Mittry Lake, and borders the south of the Yuma Proving Grounds. The northeast is bordered by the south-flowing Castle Dome Wash, arising from the Castle Dome Mountains, with Castle Dome on the northwest of Castle Dome Plain, an eastern extension of the Yuma Proving Grounds.

Laguna Mountains description

The range is a small range, circular, of about 7 miles (11 km). It is on the northeast of the Gila Valley, a Gila River valley, slightly east of the Laguna's and starting at the northern end of the Gila Mountains, and the valley containing northeast Yuma, and the agriculture fields that are north and northeast of the Yuma Mesa. A separate Yuma Valley is found west and southwest of Yuma, bordered on the north, west, and southwest by the Colorado River. The due north-trending section of U.S. Route 95 begins at the southeast of the mountain range; the road exits the northeast of the Gila Valley to begin its northern stretch towards Quartzsite, Arizona, about 90 mi.

The high point of the range is Boot Peak, at 1,080 feet (329 m). The range is mineralized with historical mining claims, some still operating.

Recreational use

The range is noted for a shooting range on its south perimeter, named Adair Park. It is located in the North Gila Valley and just northwest of the northern end of the Gila Mountains of Yuma County.


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