The Arizona transition zone is a diagonal northwest-by-southeast region across 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 ...

. The region is a transition from the higher-elevation

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 ...

Northeast Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially-defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Gila counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the sout ...

and 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 ...

region of lower-elevation deserts in the southwest and south. Northwest

transitions to the lower elevation

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 ...

of southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with an indicator species of

Joshua tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

s and other species, and southwestwards regions 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 ...

, along the Lower Colorado River Valley; in Arizona's south, all of central and eastern desert Sonoran Desert regions merge southwards into

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 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 ...

. The transition zone includes the

Mogollon Rim The Mogollon Rim ( or or ) is a topographical and geological feature cutting across the northern half of the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately , starting in northern Yavapai County and running eastward, ending near the border ...

and the White Mountains and extends into western

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. In the Arizona ecoregion section, the Arizona transition zone is the major section of the EPA designated, Level III ecoregion, ''

Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion The Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico. Description The region is a transition region from the lower ...

''. The other two outlier subregions to the transition zone in Arizona, are the

Kaibab Plateau The Kaibab Plateau is a plateau almost entirely in Coconino County, Arizona (but extending slightly north into Kane County, Utah) in the Southwestern United States. The high plain is also known as the Buckskin Mountain, Buckskin Plateau, and ...

of the North Rim of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

, and associated ranges of the

Chuska Mountains '' The Chuska Mountains are an elongate range on the southwest Colorado Plateau and within the Navajo Nation whose highest elevations approach 10,000 feet. The range is about 80 by 15 km (50 by 10 miles). It trends north-northwest and is cros ...

region of the northeast Arizona and northwest

Geography

The ''transition zone'' is dominated by the

Mogollon Plateau The Mogollon Plateau or Mogollon Mesa ( or ) is a pine-covered southern plateau section of the larger Colorado Plateau in east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico, United States. The southern boundary of the plateau is the Mogollon Rim. Th ...

at the southern edge of the

Coconino Plateau The Coconino Plateau is found south of the Grand Canyon and north-northwest of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff, in northern Arizona of the Southwestern United States. Geography The Coconino Plateau lies south of Grand Canyon Village and the Grand ...

of the Flagstaff region and the

San Francisco volcanic field The San Francisco volcanic field is an area of volcanoes in northern Arizona, north of Flagstaff, US. The field covers 1,800 square miles (4,700 km²) of the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. The field contains 600 volcanoes rang ...

; the

borders the plateau which extends from

Oak Creek Canyon Oak Creek Canyon is a river gorge located in northern Arizona between the cities of Flagstaff and Sedona. The canyon is often described as a smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon because of its scenic beauty. State Route 89A enters the canyon o ...

on the west, to the east at the highest elevations of Arizona in the central and western White Mountains.

List of mountain ranges of the Arizona transition zone

The Arizona transition zone map is similar to the yellow transition region shown above.Luchhitta, 2001. Hiking Arizona's Geology, Part 2, "Map Graphic": ''Arizona Transition Zone'', pp. 143–145. (and Hikes: 18–26, pp. 145–182)

Central mountain ranges

Black Hills (Yavapai County) The Black Hills of Yavapai County (in Yavapai: Waulkayauayau – "pine tableland") are a large mountain range of central Arizona in southeast Yavapai County. It is bordered by the Verde Valley to the east. The northwest section of the range is ...

Dripping Spring Mountains Dripping, also known usually as beef dripping or, more rarely, as pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses. It is similar to lard, tallow and schmaltz. History It is used for ...

(for

Dripping Spring Quartzite The Mesoproterozoic Dripping Spring Quartzite is a resistant, purple quartzite formation found in central and southeast Arizona, USA. It is a cliff-forming purplish unit found in the lower sections of the Apache Group, units of originally sedi ...

) * Limestone Hills *

Mazatzal Mountains The Mazatzal Mountains (MAH-zaht-ZAL, locally Ma-tuh-ZEL) are a mountain range in south central Arizona, about 30–45 miles northeast of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The origin of the name remains obscure but one possibility is that it is from ...

New River Mountains The New River Mountains are a small 14-mi (23 km) long, mountain range in central Arizona, and on the north border of the Phoenix valley; the range is located on the southwest perimeter of the Arizona transition zone. The range is a sub-part ...

Sierra Ancha The Sierra Ancha ("broad range" in Spanish, in Western Apache: Dził Nteel - "Wide Flat Mountain") is a mountain range in Gila County, in central Arizona. It lies between Roosevelt Lake to the south, the Tonto Basin to the west, Cherry Creek to ...

Superstition Mountains The Superstition Mountains ( yuf-x-yav, Wi:kchsawa) is a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain, a large mountain that is a popular recreation destination for ...

* Usery Mountains

Western region ranges

* Aquarius Mountains *

Black Mountains (Yavapai County) Black Mountains may refer to: Asia * Black Mountains (Bhutan) * Kirana Hills, Pakistan Europe * Black Mountain (range), Wales * Black Mountains (Rhön), Germany * Black Mountains, Wales and England * Montagne Noire, in central southern France ...

Bradshaw Mountains The Bradshaw Mountains ( yuf-x-yav, Wi:kañacha, "rough, black range of rocks") are a mountain range in central Arizona, United States, named for brothers Isaac and William D. Bradshaw after their deaths, having been formerly known in English as ...

* Cottonwood Mountains *

Date Creek Mountains The Date Creek Mountains are a short, arid range in southwest Yavapai County, Arizona. Congress is on its southeast foothills, and Wickenburg lies southeast. Description and area The short range is only about long. The Date Creek Mountains are ...

Hieroglyphic Mountains The Hieroglyphic Mountains are a mountain range located in central Arizona. The Hieroglyphics roughly straddle the border between Maricopa and Yavapai counties and form an effective physical barrier northwest of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Du ...

Juniper Mountains Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

* McCloud Mountains *

Mohon Mountains Mohon (; br, Mozhon) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Mohon are called in French language, French ''Mohonnais' ...

* Music Mountains *

Peacock Mountains The Peacock Mountains are a small, 26 mi (42 km) long mountain range in northwest Arizona, US. The range is a narrow sub-range, and an extension north, at the northeast of the Hualapai Mountains massif, which lies to the southwest. The ran ...

Poachie Range The Poachie Range is a moderate length mountain range and massif in southeast Mohave County, Arizona, and the extreme southwest corner of Yavapai County; the range also abuts the northeast corner of La Paz County. The Poachie Range massif is bord ...

** (

Alamo Lake Alamo Lake State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, centered on Alamo Lake, a flood control and recreational reservoir. The park is located in western Arizona about north of Wenden. It is accessed via a paved two-lane road off either U.S. ...

, Aguila Valley) *

Santa Maria Mountains The Santa Maria Mountains are a 16-mi (26 km) long mountain range in central-northwest Arizona, and in northwest Yavapai County. The range lies in a region of mesas and mountain ranges in the northwest of Arizona's transition zone. The Santa ...

Sierra Prieta The Sierra Prieta is a longArizona Road & Recreation Atlas, Benchmark Maps, c. 1998, pp. 74–75. mountain range in central-northwest Arizona. The range is the mountainous region west of Prescott, with prominent Thumb Butte, , a volcanic plug, ...

* Sullivan Buttes *

Vulture Mountains The Vulture Mountains is a long, arid, low-elevation mountain range located in northwest Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is in the north perimeter region of the Sonoran Desert. The Arizona transition zone mountain ranges lie north a ...

Weaver Mountains The Weaver Mountains are a smaller mountain range to the southwest of the Bradshaw Mountains in central-west Yavapai County, Arizona. Yarnell, at the summit of the Yarnell Hill, Arizona State Route 89, is at the center of the range. Descriptio ...

Eastern region ranges

* Big Lue Mountains *

Black Hills (Greenlee County) The Black Hills of Greenlee County are a 20 mi (32 km) long mountain range of the extreme northeast Sonoran Desert bordering the south of the White Mountains of eastern Arizona's transition zone. The mountain range is bordered by the ...

Blackjack Mountains, Arizona The Blackjack Mountains are a mountain range located in Gila County, Arizona. They have a maximum elevation of at Apache Peaks and a prominence of . The peak has a topographic isolation of 17.88 miles (29 km), with the nearest higher peak lying ...

Gila Mountains (Graham County) The Gila Mountains of Graham County are a mountain range in central-east Arizona. It borders the Gila River and Gila Valley on the valley's northeast in north-central Graham County; also the San Carlos Indian Reservation. The mountain range s ...

* Hayes Mountains *

Mescal Mountains The Mescal Mountains (in Western Apache language: Nadah Choh Dasán – "Big Mescal Sitting There") are a series of connected mountain ridges in southern Gila County, Arizona. Their highest point is El Capitan Mountain, which has an elevation of 6, ...

* Natanes Mountains *

Pinal Mountains The Pinal Mountains (Yavapai: Walkame – "pine mountains", Western Apache: Dził Nnilchí' Diyiléé – "pine-burdened mountain") are a mountain range located in Gila County, Arizona. They have a maximum elevation of at Pinal Peak and a promine ...

Salt River Mountains (Gila County) The South Mountains ( O'odham: ''Muhaḍagĭ Doʼag'', Yavapai: ''Wi:ki'tiyeda'', mrc, Vii Kwxas), known locally as simply South Mountain, is a mountain range in central Arizona in south Phoenix, Arizona. It is on public land managed by the city ...

Santa Teresa Mountains The Santa Teresa Mountains are a mountain range located within the Coronado National Forest and partly within the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, in western Graham County, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣona ...

Sevenmile Mountains, Arizona The Sevenmile Mountains are a mountain range in central Gila County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The range has a maximum elevation of and a prominence of . The highest peak is labelled ''Seven'' on the USGS topo sheet''Sevenmile Mts, AZ,'' 7.5 M ...

Sierra Aguilada The Sierra Aguilada is a mountain range in southwest Catron County, New Mexico on the eastern perimeter of Arizona's White Mountains. The Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico lie just east, with a south-flowing section of the San Francisco River sepa ...

–(New Mexico) * White Mountains–(central-southern regions)

References