The Santa Rita Mountains (

O'odham The O'odham peoples, including the Tohono O'odham, the Pima or Akimel O'odham, and the Hia C-ed O'odham, are indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and northern Sonora, united by a common herita ...

: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about 65 km (40 mi) southeast of

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, extend 42 km (26 mi) from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the

Patagonia Mountains The Patagonia Mountains are a mountain range within the Coronado National Forest, and in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. Geography The Patagonia Mountains begin near the Mexico border east of Nogales, Arizona. Running north, they ...

, trending northwest by southeast. The highest point in the range, and the highest point in the Tucson area, is

Mount Wrightson Mount Wrightson (O'odham: Ce:wi Duag) is a peak in the Santa Rita Mountains within the Coronado National Forest, in southern Arizona, United States. It was named for William Wrightson, a miner and entrepreneur in the region killed by Apaches in ...

, with an elevation of 9,453 feet (2,881 m), The range contains Madera Canyon, one of the world's premier birding areas. The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is an American astronomy, astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); it is their largest field installation outside of their main site in Cambridge, Mass ...

is located on Mount Hopkins. The range is one of the

Madrean sky islands The Madrean Sky Islands are enclaves of Madrean pine–oak woodlands, found at higher elevations in a complex of small mountain ranges in southern and southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico. The sky islands are sur ...

. The Santa Rita Mountains are mostly within the

Coronado National Forest The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres (7,200 km2) spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It is located in parts of C ...

. Prior to 1908 they were the principal component of

Santa Rita National Forest Santa Rita National Forest was established as the Santa Rita Forest Reserve by the General Land Office in Arizona on April 11, 1902 with . After the transfer of federal forests to the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, it became a National Forest on Ma ...

, which was combined with other small forest tracts to form Coronado. Much of the range lies within the Mt. Wrightson Wilderness, managed by the Coronado National Forest. The Santa Rita Mountains were severely burned in July 2005 in the Florida Fire. On the western side of the northern Santa Rita Mountains, a large cliff face of white marble is visible from the Green Valley and Sahuarita areas. This "white scar" reminded early Spanish missionaries of Saint

Rita of Cascia Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italians, Italian widow and Augustinian nuns, Augustinian nun venerated as a List of Catholic saints, saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joine ...

(1381-1457), an Italian nun, who is often depicted with a small wound on her forehead. The mountain range was consequently named after her. Other mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson valley include the

Santa Catalina Mountains The Santa Catalina Mountains, commonly referred to as the Catalina Mountains or the Catalinas, are north and northeast of Tucson in Arizona, United States, on Tucson's north perimeter. The mountain range is the most prominent in the Tucson area, w ...

, the

Rincon Mountains The Rincon Mountains (O'odham: Cew Doʼag) are a significant mountain range east of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, in the United States. The Rincon Mountains are one of five mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson valley. The other ranges include ...

, the

Tucson Mountains The Tucson Mountains (O'odham: Cuk Doʼag) are a minor mountain range west of Tucson, Arizona. The Tucson Mountains, including Wasson Peak, are one of four notable mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson Basin. The Santa Catalina Mountains lie ...

, and the

Tortolita Mountains The Tortolita Mountains are a modest mountain range northwest of Tucson, Arizona, USA, at the northern boundaries of Oro Valley and Marana, two suburbs of Tucson. Peak elevation is 4,696 feet (1,431 m). Much of the mountain range is protected wit ...

Rosemont mine

A large

porphyry copper Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of ...

deposit has been identified near the old

Helvetia Helvetia () is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially ''Confoederatio Helvetica,'' the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss fla ...

mining district on the north flank of the range. The proposed Rosemont mine would be an open pit operation located in the Santa Ritas about two miles west of mile marker 44 on

Arizona State Route 83 State Route 83 (SR 83) is a scenic state highway in southern Arizona, stretching from its junction with Interstate 10 near Vail south to Parker Canyon Lake. It passes through sparsely populated areas of Pima, Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ...

Jaguars

The Santa Rita Mountains were the temporary home range of " El Jefe," an adult male jaguar first identified in 2011. He has not been seen since 2015 and it is presumed that he returned to Mexico, where the nearest breeding population of jaguars is located.

Gallery

References

External links

Mt. Wrightson Wilderness Coronado National Forest

Friends of Madera Canyon

Whipple Observatory
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Pima County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Madrean Sky Islands mountain ranges Coronado National Forest Geography of Tucson, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona

Rosemont mine

Jaguars

Gallery

See also

References

External links