The Harquahala Mountains (

Yavapai The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...

: ʼHakhe:la) are the highest mountain range in southwestern

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 ...

, United States and are located southwest of the towns of

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 ...

and Wenden. The name originated from the Yavapai 'ʼHakhe:la", which means "running water". The range is oriented from northeast to southwest and is approximately 32 km long and 20 km at its widest point. At the northeast are two prominent peaks, Eagle Eye Peak and Eagle Eye Mountain. One has a natural opening or bridge through it appearing as an eye high up, and is the namesake for the peaks and Aguila (Spanish for eagle). The highest point, Harquahala Peak, rises to 5,681 ft (1,732 m). Socorro Peak, 3270 ft (1,134 m), is at the southwest end of the range. The very windy summit can be reached via a rough, 4-wheel drive road. This high point was used by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in the 1880s as a

heliograph A heliograph () is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter. The heliograp ...

station. Then in 1920 a

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution, concentrating on astrophysical studies including galactic and extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, solar, earth and planetary sciences, the ...

was constructed on this summit and operated for five years before being relocated to

Table Mountain Observatory Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) is an astronomical observation facility operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology). It is located in Big Pines, California, in Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, north- ...

, near

Wrightwood, California Wrightwood is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California. It sits at an elevation of . The population was 4,525 at the 2010 census, up from the population of 3,837 at the 2000 census. Wrightwood is located northeast of Lo ...

. Its purpose was to study variations in the solar output as a possible factor in climate prediction. Designated in 1990, the the Harquahala Mountain Wilderness lies to the north and east of the summit at on the

Maricopa Maricopa can refer to: Places * Maricopa, Arizona, United States, a city ** Maricopa Freeway, a piece of I-10 in Metropolitan Phoenix ** Maricopa station, an Amtrak station in Maricopa, Arizona * Maricopa County, Arizona, United States * Marico ...

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

county line. At the southwest end of the mountain range, there are

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

mines and in the past there were extensive mines for gold and silver.

References

External links

Harquahala Mountains Wilderness
- BLM
Harquahala at wilderness.net

– Ghost Town of the Month at azghosttowns.com {{authority control Wilderness areas of Arizona Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Mountain ranges of La Paz County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Maricopa County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona Bureau of Land Management areas in Arizona Protected areas of Maricopa County, Arizona Protected areas of La Paz County, Arizona

See also

References

Further reading

External links