The Lechuguilla Desert is a small desert located in southwestern

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 ...

near the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the

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 ...

. It lies in a north–south direction between the Gila Mountains and the

Cabeza Prieta Mountains The Cabeza Prieta Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona. The mountain range is amongst an eleven-mountain sequence of north-trending ranges and va ...

, and almost entirely in the

Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range or Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), formerly known as Luke Air Force Range, is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona, between the Mexico–United States border and Interstate 8 straddling the Cabeza Pr ...

. The desert is named after the Lechuguilla plant, known scientifically as ''Agave lecheguilla'', which occurs exclusively in the Chihuahuan desert many hundreds of miles to the east. The desert is also on the north border of the

Gran Desierto de Altar The Gran Desierto de Altar is one of the major sub-ecoregions of the Sonoran Desert, located in the Sonora, State of Sonora, in northwest Mexico. It includes the only active Erg (landform), erg dune region in North America. The desert extends acro ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

, Mexico. The Lechuguilla Desert lies to the east-northeast of the connected ranges, Gila Mountains, and north of the

Tinajas Altas Mountains The Tinajas Altas Mountains (O'odham: Uʼuva:k or Uʼuv Oopad) are an extremely arid northwest–southeast trending mountain range in southern Yuma County, Arizona, approximately 35 mi southeast of Yuma, Arizona. The southern end of the range ...

, which extend southeast into north Sonora. To the west and southwest of the two ranges lies the

Yuma Desert The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It lies in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With ...

. The

Tule Desert (Arizona) The Tule Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert. It lies in a north–south direction to the east of the Cabeza ...

lies east of the Lechuguilla, and the

; all three deserts are at the northwest perimeter of the great desert, the Gran Desierto de Altar, and the

Pinacate Peaks The Pinacate Peaks (Sierra Pinacate, ood, Cuk Doʼag) are a group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones located mostly in the Mexican state of Sonora along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by the vas ...

volcanic field region.

References

* Mapquest.com Road Atlas, 2001, pg. 9
Sonoran Desert
{{Coord, 32.4181104, -113.9832679, display=title Deserts of Arizona Sonoran Desert Deserts of the Lower Colorado River Valley Deserts of the Gran Desierto de Altar

See also

References