The Eldorado Mountains, also called the El Dorado Mountains, are a north-south trending mountain range in southeast

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

bordering west of the south-flowing

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

; the

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

Eldorado Valley Eldorado Valley, or El Dorado Valley, is a Great Basin valley in the Mojave Desert southeast of Las Vegas and southwest of Boulder City, Nevada. The valley is endorheic, containing the Eldorado Dry Lake. The Great Basin Divide, transects ridgelines ...

borders the range to the west, and the range is also on the western border of the Colorado River's

Black Canyon of the Colorado The Black Canyon of the Colorado is the canyon on the Colorado River where Hoover Dam was built. The canyon is located on the Colorado River at the state line between Nevada and Arizona. The western wall of the gorge is in the El Dorado Mountai ...

, and El Dorado Canyon on the river. The range is southeast of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Nevada; and the Eldorado Mountains connect with the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

and Newberry mountains. The name ''El Dorado'' is taken from the name of a legendary

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mine, and the ghost town-mining location of Nelson in Nelson Canyon, transects the central portion of the range. The ''Nelson Overlook'' is a viewing point over the Colorado River's El Dorado Canyon.

Wilderness

The mountain range contains the Eldorado Wilderness of . Established in 2004, the area is jointly managed by the

NPS NPS may refer to: Organizations * National Park Service, U.S. * National Pension System, India * National Pension Service, Korea * National Phobics Society, UK charity * National Piers Society, UK charity * National Poetry Slam, competition * ...

and the

BLM BLM most commonly refers to: * Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization * Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency BLM may also refer to: Organizations * BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...

. The NPS manages the eastern section within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the BLM manages the western section. This desert wilderness is a rugged maze of hills, peaks, and winding canyons. The Eldorado Range is volcanic rock with

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

flows on a base of

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

. A bajada extends northwest of the mountains.

Creosote bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of n ...

scrub oak Scrub oak is a common name for several species of small, shrubby oaks. It may refer to: *the Chaparral plant community in California, or to one of the following species. In California *California scrub oak (''Quercus berberidifolia''), a widespr ...

, clump grass, and various cacti cover the mountains and foothills. This supports a significant population of

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

in the higher elevations. Abandoned mine sites are scattered among the region. Water is scarce, besides the Colorado River, and summer temperatures can reach 120 °F (48 °C). To the south, Ireteba Peaks Wilderness of is composed of the ''Ireteba Ridge'' at , that overlooks to the east, the northern portions of Lake Mohave and the El Dorado Canyon. The high point of the Eldorado Mountains is Ireteba Peak at , which is named for the Mohave Indian guide and tribal leader

Irataba Irataba ( Mohave: ''eecheeyara tav'' , also known as ''Yara tav'', ''Yarate:va'', ''Arateve''; – 1874) was a leader of the Mohave Nation, known as a mediator between the Mohave and the United States. He was born near the Colorado River ...

. Some communities associated with the range, are in the south,

Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

US 95 US Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south US Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland from the Pacific Coast. US 95 begins in San Luis, ...

and Cottonwood Cove, on the river. Nelson is in the center of the range, and the nearest community north is Boulder City.

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline, Eldorado Mountains
Eldorado Wilderness
– NPS

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Mountain ranges of Nevada Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley Eldorado Valley Mountain ranges of Clark County, Nevada