The Beaver Dam Wash is a seasonal stream near the southwestern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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 ...

border in the United States. At its southern end in northern

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 point where it empties into the Virgin River, the stream flows throughout the year. Part of the wash is in the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area, managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. The wash was so named on account of beaver dams which once were built on its course. The wash occupies a transition zone among the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

, the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, and the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

ecosystems. Like all such zones, this area supports diverse vegetative communities and a rich array of wildlife.Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area
- Public Lands Information Center The wash begins in the

Clover Mountains The Clover Mountains are a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada. The Clover Mountains Wilderness makes up a large part of the mountain range. The Clover Mountains are the southern mountains on the east perimeter of the Meadow Valley Wash wa ...

in Lincoln County, Nevada and flows south across very sparsely populated desert terrain. The area around the wash, including several protected

wilderness areas Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, includes forests of Joshua trees along with other

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

s, cholla

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

barrel cactus Barrel cacti are various members of the two genera ''Echinocactus'' and ''Ferocactus'', endemic to the deserts of Southwestern North America southward to north central Mexico. Some of the largest specimens are found in the Sonoran Desert in Sout ...

Mormon Tea ''Ephedra'' is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs. The various species of ''Ephedra'' are widespread in many arid regions of the world, ranging across southwestern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwest and central Asia, northern ...

, and other grasses and shrubs, the primary vegetation in the area. Animal life in the area consists of a variety of lizards, mammals, birds, insects, and other creatures found in the Mojave Desert. The lower elevations provide designated critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise and other native species, such as

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 ...

, gila monster, and mojave rattlesnake. Winters are mild, with temperatures reaching highs from the mid-50s to 60s degrees Fahrenheit. Winter lows are usually in the 40s to high 20s Fahrenheit. Summer highs are commonly over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with lows in the mid-80s Fahrenheit.

Flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

s are common in the area when heavy summer

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

thunderstorms dump heavy amounts of rain in short times, causing water to fill washes and gulleys in the area. Most precipitation comes in concentrated storms that are infrequent. Generally, the air is low in humidity and dry. Windy conditions also are common throughout the year. At elevation, Beaver Dam Wash is the

lowest point This article lists extreme locations on Earth that hold geographical records or are otherwise known for their geophysical or meteorological superlatives. All of these locations are Earth-wide extremes; extremes of individual continents or coun ...

in the state of

References

External links

Map of Beaver Dam Wash NCA in UtahMap of wilderness areas in northwestern Washington County, Utah
{{authority control Lowest points of U.S. states Rivers of Mohave County, Arizona Rivers of Utah Rivers of Washington County, Utah Tributaries of the Colorado River in Arizona Tributaries of the Colorado River in Utah Tributaries of the Lower Colorado River in Arizona Washes of Arizona

See also

References

External links