The Childs Valley is a valley in 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 Arizon ...

of south-central

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

northwest of

Ajo Ajo, Ajó, or AJO may refer to: Places * Ajo, Arizona, a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, US ** Ajo Peak, a mountain peak in southern Arizona ** Little Ajo Mountains, a mountain range in southern Arizona ** Ajo Unified School Di ...

. Upstream sections are located in far western

Pima County Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the populatio ...

; downstream it merges into the

Gila River Valley The Gila River Valley is a multi-sectioned valley of the Gila River, located primarily in Arizona. The Gila River forms in western New Mexico and flows west across southeastern, south-central, and southwestern Arizona; it changes directions as i ...

in southwestern

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

. Upstream, the valley lies northeast and parallel to the Growler Valley and Growler Mountains.''Ajo, Arizona-Sonora'' 1x2 degree Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1982''Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer,'' DeLorme, 4th ed., 2001, p. 64,

Description

Childs Valley is northwest trending. The west part of the upper valley contains Daniels Wash which flows north, then west at the north end of the Growler Mountains to meet Growler Wash, the upstream, southern region of the

San Cristobal Valley The San Cristobal Valley is a valley in the lower regions of the western Gila River Valley in southwestern Arizona in the western Sonoran Desert. The San Cristobal Wash drains northwest, but exists only in the southern half of the valley. The Sa ...

watershed. The eastern part of the upper Childs Valley contains Childs Wash, the western tributary to the

Tenmile Wash Tenmile Wash is an ephemeral wash and watercourse about long in the northern Sonoran Desert of south-central Arizona. It forms the eastern drainage of a two drainage system of dry washes into the Gila River Valley; both flow northwesterly, and the ...

watershed. The Childs Wash drains the northwest of the

Little Ajo Mountains The Little Ajo Mountains is a mountain range in southern Arizona, in extreme western Pima County, Arizona. The city of Ajo sits on the northeast of this small mountain range. Both the mountain range and city take their name from the Spanish wor ...

, where

Ajo, Arizona Ajo ( ) is an unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is the closest community to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The population was 3,304 at the 2010 census. Ajo is located on State Route 85 just from t ...

is on its east. The east of the Little Ajo's are drained by

. The

Crater Range Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

borders its northeast, and is also the northeast border of Tenmile Wash. The Aguila Mountains border the southwest between the Childs and San Cristobal valleys. Childs Valley is northwest trending and drains into the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

and Park valleys.

References

{{reflist Valleys of Arizona Landforms of Maricopa County, Arizona Landforms of Pima County, Arizona