The Patagonia Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

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 ...

, and in Santa Cruz County,

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.

Geography

Oak Woodland Patagonia Mountains Arizona 2014

The Patagonia Mountains begin near the Mexico border east of Nogales, Arizona. Running north, they are geologically related to the Santa Rita Mountains, which continue north beyond Sonoita Creek. The

Santa Rita Mountains The Santa Rita Mountains (O'odham language, O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about 65 km (40 mi) southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 42 km (26 mi) from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastw ...

line up to the north across the Sonoita Valley. Both the Patagonias and the Santa Ritas are east of the Santa Cruz River Valley.

Arizona State Route 82 State Route 82 (SR 82) is an east–west state highway in southern Arizona. The western terminus of Route 82 is located at its junction with Business Loop 19 (Grand Avenue) in Nogales and its eastern terminus at its junction with State Rout ...

winds through the Sonoita Valley along

Sonoita Creek Sonoita Creek is a tributary stream of the Santa Cruz River in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It originates near and takes its name from the abandoned Pima mission in the high valley near Sonoita. It flows steadily for the first of its westwa ...

which flows between the Santa Ritas and the Patagonias.

Patagonia Lake Patagonia Lake is a man-made reservoir in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States, located southwest of the town of Patagonia, Arizona and northeast of Nogales. The lake was created by damming Sonoita Creek, and is a popular area for boatin ...

and the town of Patagonia are located in the Sonoita Valley.''Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer,'' DeLorme, 4th ed. 2001, p. 73 Some of the important peaks are, Mount Washington, the highest peak at 7,221 feet, Veteran's Peak, 7,211 feet, and Guajalote Peak, 6,490 feet. North of Guajalote Peak lies Soldier Basin. Above and to the east of the basin lies the largest endemic stand of ponderosa and Chihuahua pines in the range. The

Sierra San Antonio The Sierra San Antonio is a mountain range in southernmost Arizona state (U.S.) and northern Sonora state (México). Geography The approximately long range is the southern section of the Patagonia Mountains, beginning in the U.S.-Mexico bor ...

are a continuation of the Patagonia Mountains southwards into

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 ...

, a mountain range of about 10 miles in length that tapers down to lower elevations where the Santa Cruz River makes its bend near the Sonoran town of San Lázaro. The old mining camps and

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

s of Mowry, Washington Camp, Harshaw, and Duquesne are located in the Patagonia Mountains.

Nogales, Arizona Nogales (English: or , ; ) is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 census and estimated 20,103 in 2019. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson–Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population ...

, and

Nogales, Sonora Heroica Nogales (), more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and the county seat of the Municipality of Nogales. It is located on the northern border of the Mexican state of Sonora. The city is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizo ...

, are in the valley to the southwest of the mountain range. The

San Rafael Valley The San Rafael Valley is a high intermontane grass valley in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The valley is bounded to the west by the Patagonia Mountains, to the north and northeast by the Canelo Hills and to the east by the Huachuca Mountain ...

and

Canelo Hills The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Cany ...

are to the east of the Patagonia Mountains.

Ecology

The connected Santa Rita, Patagonia, and Sierra San Antonio ranges are part 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 ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

, the

sky island Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...

mountain ranges region on the north of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

, the major

cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly us ...

and mountain ecoregion of central-western and northwestern Mexico.

References

External links

Moutainzone.com: The Patagonia Mountains

{{Authority control Madrean Sky Islands mountain ranges Mountain ranges of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Coronado National Forest Mountain ranges of Arizona

Geography

Ecology

See also

References

External links