The Kofa Mountains (

Yavapai The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...

: Wi:kasayeo) of Yuma and

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

counties in Arizona is the central mountain range of the

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge 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 of the Yuma Desert regi ...

. 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. The equally extensive

Castle Dome Mountains The Castle Dome Mountains (Tolkepaya Yavapai: Wi:hopuʼ) 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 pea ...

comprise the southern refuge border; the western end of the

Tank Mountains The Tank Mountains (Yavapai: Hakimatava) 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 Tank Mountains are east–west trending and about lo ...

are in the southeast of the

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, and the New Water Wilderness in the

New Water Mountains 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. It is a northwest–southeast trending range, about long. T ...

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. 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 palm ''Washingtonia filifera'', the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm,Flora of North America Association. ''Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in Part), and Zi ...

s 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 and Squaw Peak at , and Polaris Mountain at in the south. The closest community to the Kofa Mountains is

Quartzsite Quartzsite is a town in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 2,413. Interstate 10 runs directly through Quartzsite which is at the intersection of U.S. Route 95 and Arizona State Route 95 wi ...

, 30 miles northwest on

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

. Access roads to the range depart a north-south stretch of

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, ...

, five miles to the west. There are a number of winter homes in King Valley.Peter Massey & Jeanne Wilson, 2006, ''Backcountry Adventures Arizona,'' Adler Publishing, The wildlife refuge and the Kofa Mountains are arid and rugged

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

remnant mountains of

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

age. They are home to one of the larger

Desert Bighorn Sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The Bu ...

ranges. The wildlife refuge and the mountains are some of the hottest areas in the southwest

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 ...

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. The Kofa, Arizona post office was established June 5, 1900 and was discontinued August 27, 1928.Kofa Arizona ghost town
/ref> Some of the old buildings are still in use as winter homes.

Gallery

Image:Berberis_harrisoniana_001.jpg, ''Berberis harrisoniana,'' the Kofa Mountain

Barberry ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America a ...

Image:Berberis_harrisoniana_005.jpg, ''Berberis harrisoniana'' Image:Prickly_Pear_Blossoms.jpg, Prickly pear blossoms Image:Sonoran_Desert_in_bloom.jpg, The desert in bloom Image:Kofa_Mountains_002.jpg, Kofa Mountains

References

External links

Kofa Wilderness on Wilderness Connect
{{Authority control Gold mines in the United States Mining in Arizona Yuma Desert Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley Mountain ranges of Yuma County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona

Origin of name

Gallery

See also

References

External links