The Little Harquahala Mountains are a small, arid, low-elevation mountain range of western-central

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 ...

, in the southeast of

La Paz County La Paz County is the 15th county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the second-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Parker. The ...

. The range is northwest-by-southeast-trending and is in a region of about thirty landforms, plains, valleys, and mountain ranges called the Maria fold and thrust belt. The region is in the

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 ...

and three mountain ranges are in a parallel, northwest-by-southeast-trending

thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that syst ...

belt, with two intervening valleys. The Little Harquahala Range borders the second valley and third mountain range, the

McMullen Valley McMullen is a surname with predominantly Irish origins but also with some Scottish history. It derives from root forenames such as: Maolain, Maelan "Hillock" and Meallain "Pleasant". All of these forenames have over time evolved to the collatera ...

and Harquahala Mountains, on their southwest borders. The range is a section of a

water divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...

for tributaries to two river watersheds on the Gila and

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 ...

s. An even smaller range is connected north on the water divide, the 8-mile (13 km) long

Granite Wash Mountains The Granite Wash Mountains are a short, arid, low elevation mountain range of western-central Arizona, in the southeast of La Paz County. The range borders a slightly larger range southeast, the Little Harquahala Mountains; both ranges form a sect ...

Maria fold and thrust belt

The three mountain ranges and two valleys bordered to the northeast: *

Buckskin Mountains The Buckskin Mountains is a mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north–south Colorado River, and borders south of the east–west, west-flowing Bill Williams River. Description The range is ...

Butler Valley (Arizona) Butler Valley is a valley of the Maria fold and thrust belt in western Arizona, USA. It lies east of the Colorado River, and is south of the west-flowing Bill Williams River. Description of valley and region Butler Valley is one of the two valle ...

Harcuvar Mountains The Harcuvar Mountains (Yavapai: Ahakuwa) are a narrow mountain range in western-central Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north-south Colorado River, and south of the east-west, west-flowing Bill Williams River, from Alamo ...

* Harquahala Mountains

Peaks and landforms

The highest elevation in the mountains is Martin Peak at ,Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, 1998, pp. 72–73. in the southeast. Harquar Peak at is located to the central-north. Granite Wash Pass is located at the northwest end of the mountains;

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

is west and Harcuvar, Arizona is east. The pass contains a rail transportation line, as well as

U.S. Route 60 in Arizona U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is an east–west United States Highway within Arizona. The highway runs for from a junction with Interstate 10 near Quartzsite to the New Mexico State Line near Springerville. As it crosses the state, US 60 ...

from

Brenda Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language. Origin The overall accepted origin for the female name Brenda is the Old Nordic male name ''Brandr'' meaning both ''torch'' and ''sword'': evidently the male name Brandr took root in areas ...

at Interstate 10 in Arizona, and the route northeast to

Aguila Águila or Aguila is Spanish for "eagle". It may refer to: Places *El Aguila, Valle del Cauca, a town and municipality in Colombia * Aguila, Arizona, United States Ships * Chilean brigantine ''Águila'' (1796), the first ship of the Chilean Navy ...

, then to

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 ...

, on U.S. 93.

Bouse Wash and Centennial Wash

The Little Harquahala Mountains are on the northwest-by-southeast

between two washes. The Bouse Wash flows northwest to the

;

Centennial Wash (Maricopa County) Centennial Wash is an ephemeral dry wash that forms the final watershed of the Gila River in central Arizona – before the river turns south. From the Centennial Wash confluence, the Gila turns south, then southwest to exit Arizona on the Cal ...

is east and flows southeast to meet the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

at the "great Gila Bend", adjacent to the

Gila Bend Mountains The Gila Bend Mountains are a long mountain range of the north-central Sonoran Desert southwest of Phoenix, Arizona and in southwest Maricopa County. The Gila River of New Mexico and Arizona transects the entire state of Arizona, and the water ...

References

External links

Opuntia basilaris
Beavertail cactus,

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Herbarium, Little Harquahala Mountains
Little Harquahala Mountains, mountainzone

{{Authority control Drainage divides Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Mountain ranges of La Paz County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona

Maria fold and thrust belt

Peaks and landforms

Bouse Wash and Centennial Wash

See also

References

External links