The Aquarius Mountains are a 45-mi (72 km) long

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in southeast

Mohave County Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United St ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The range lies in the northwest of the

Arizona transition zone The Arizona transition zone is a diagonal northwest-by-southeast region across central Arizona. The region is a transition from the higher-elevation Colorado Plateau in Northeast Arizona and the Basin and Range region of lower-elevation deserts ...

, and at the southwest of the

Coconino Plateau The Coconino Plateau is found south of the Grand Canyon and north-northwest of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff, in northern Arizona of the Southwestern United States. Geography The Coconino Plateau lies south of Grand Canyon Village and the Grand ...

, a subsection of the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

. The Aquarius Mountains are on the perimeter of the transition zone, and border the south-flowing Big Sandy River and Valley on its west; adjacent further west is the

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

of the

Hualapai Mountains The Hualapai Mountains are a mountain range located in Mohave County, east of Kingman, Arizona. Rising up to 8,417 feet at its highest peak, the higher elevations of the Hualapai Mountains support Madrean Sky Island habitats, and are host to ...

, a

block fault Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...

Basin and Range Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...

landform bordered westwards by the north-south

Sacramento Valley , photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg , photo_caption= Sacramento , map_image=Map california central valley.jpg , map_caption= The Central Valley of California , location = California, United States , coordinates = , boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...

. Mohave County and northwest Arizona, is also a southeastwards extension of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

which extends down to

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...

, on the southwest perimeter of the Arizona transition zone.

Joshua trees ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

can be found here, and the route north from

Wickenburg Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...

U.S. Route 93 in Arizona U.S. Route 93 in the state of Arizona is a United States Numbered Highway that begins in Wickenburg and heads north to the Nevada state line at the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. As part of a proposal by municipal leaders in N ...

is called the Joshua Tree Highway. The region is at the northwest border of Arizona's

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

region of the lower elevation deserts, as they merge northwest into higher elevations of Mohave County.

Description

The Aquarius Mountains are mostly a north-south range that curves slightly south-southeast in the south. The north of the range merges into a hill and mountain peak region at the northwest of an adjacent range eastwards, the northwest-southeast

Mohon Mountains Mohon (; br, Mozhon) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Mohon are called in French language, French ''Mohonnais' ...

. The merged area of the two ranges in the north contains Trout and Knight Creeks, both westward-flowing towards the Big Sandy River & Valley ( both due-south trending along a fault). Seven named peaks are around the two creeks, and Cedar Basin. The highpoint of the mountain range occurs here, Snow Mountain (Arizona), .Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, pp. 32–33, 66–67. The second highest peak in the range occurs in the extreme southwest, Grey Mountain, in the

Aquarius Cliffs Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

, part of the

Aquarius Fault Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

, a southern extension from the

Grand Wash Cliffs The Grand Wash Cliffs extend south-southeast from the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in northwest Arizona west of the Shivwits Plateau south through the Grand Cliffs Wilderness and into the Lake Mead Recreation Area. The Grand Wash Cl ...

and Fault.

Access

U.S. Route 93 travels north-south through the Big Sandy River Valley on the range's west. At

Wikieup, Arizona Wikieup is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located on U.S. Route 93 in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is located approximately northwest of Phoenix and southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the ...

at the range's southwest, and near Neale and Goodwin Mesas, Route 93 turns southeast to Wickenburg, about distant. North regions of the range can be accessed south of Interstate 40.

References

* Lucchitta, 2001. ''Hiking Arizona's Geology;'' Part 2, ''Arizona Transition Zone'', Graphic, w/text, Hikes 18-26. Ivo Lucchitta, c 2001, Mountaineers's Books. 272 pages, 41 Hikes. (Transition zone: Hikes 18-26, pp. 143–82.) (softcover, )

External links

Lower Simmons Peak, trails.com

{{Mountains of Arizona Mountain ranges of Mohave County, Arizona Arizona transition zone mountain ranges Mountain ranges of Arizona