Black Mesa (also called Big Mountain) is an upland mountainous mesa of
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, north-trending in
Navajo County
Navajo County () is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 106,717. The county seat is Holbrook.
Navajo County comprises the Show Low, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area.
N ...
, west and southeast-trending in
Apache County. In
Navajo
The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
it is called ('Black Mountain') and during
Mexican rule of Arizona it was called Mesa de las Vacas (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
for '
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
of the cows'). It derives its dark appearance from its
pinyon-juniper and mixed conifer woodlands.
Geography
The
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
is located on the
Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within w ...
near
Kayenta, Arizona
Kayenta ( meaning "Fingers of Water" because of how water runs down the rocks when it rains) is a U.S. town which is part of the Navajo Nation and is in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Established November 13, 1986, the Kayenta Township ...
, and rises to over . Its highest peak is located on Black Mesa's northern rim, a few miles south of the town of Kayenta. Reliable springs surfacing at several locations mean the mesa is more suitable for continuous habitation than much of the surrounding desert area. It is now split between the
Hopi
The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...
and Diné (
Navajo
The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
) tribal reservations.
Black Mesa is also the name of a small Navajo community off BIA-8066, which lies 17 miles west of
Rough Rock, 20 miles north of
Blue Gap and 25 miles northeast of
Pinon. In the area is a local Chapter House and a community school.
The mesa is located within, and gives its name to, the Black Mesa Basin.
Mining

Since the 1960s the mesa has been
strip mine
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...
d for coal by the
Peabody Western Coal Company, stirring a
controversy
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
over Peabody Energy's use of groundwater to transport coal.
In 2013, the
Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), collaborating with the Black Mesa Water Coalition, held their first national gathering in opposition to the strip mining of the mesa. The gathering had an attendance of 100 members.
See also
*
Black Mesa Peabody Coal debate
Peabody Energy mined coal at the Black Mesa plateau in the southwestern United States from the 1960s until 2019. The plateau overlaps the Navajo and Hopi reservations.
Controversy arose from an unusually generous mineral lease agreement between ...
*
Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad
The Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad was an electrified private railroad operating in Northern Arizona, USA within the Navajo Nation which transported coal from the Peabody Energy Kayenta Mine near Kayenta, Arizona to the Navajo Generatin ...
References
{{Coord, 34.2808509, -113.8385493, display=title
Mesas of Arizona
Landforms of Apache County, Arizona
Landforms of Navajo County, Arizona
Unincorporated communities in Navajo County, Arizona
Geography of the Navajo Nation
Hopi Reservation
Unincorporated communities in Arizona