The Mazatzal Mountains (MAH-zaht-ZAL, locally Ma-tuh-ZEL) are a mountain range in south 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 ...

, about 30–45 miles northeast of the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

. The origin of the name remains obscure but one possibility is that it is from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

language meaning "place of the deer". The crest of the Mazatzals forms the county line between Maricopa County and

Gila County Gila County ( ) is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,272. The county seat is Globe. Gila County comprises the Payson, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area. Gila County contains ...

. SR 87, the Beeline Highway, traverses the Mazatzals on its way to Payson. The highest peak is Mazatzal Peak at . They also include the

Four Peaks , photo = FourpeaksDSC 2779.JPG , photo_caption = View of Four Peaks with some snow , elevation_ft = 7,659 , elevation_ref = , prominence_ft = 3297 , prominence_ref= , listing = Arizona county high point , location = Gila /&thi ...

, with elevation 7,659 ft, 2,334 m; a prominent mountain and landmark of the eastern Phoenix area. The Mazatzal Wilderness Area protects of the Tonto and Coconino National forests. Established in 1940 and expanded to its present size in 1984, elevations range from at Sheep Bridge in the southwest to on Mazatzal Peak. The eastern side of the wilderness consists of brush- or pine-covered mountains, sometimes broken by narrow, vertical-walled canyons. On its west side below the steep brush-covered foothills, the Verde River flows through 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 Ariz ...

. The Verde was designated by the U.S. Congress as one of Arizona's two

Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

s in 1984.

Great Unconformity, Mazatzal Wilderness region

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, on

Arizona State Route 87 State Route 87 (SR 87) is a north–south highway that travels from I-10 near Picacho northward to State Route 264 near Second Mesa. Route description SR 87 begins to the north of I-10 at a junction with an unsigned orphan segment of SR 84 ...

, at the northeast region of the Mazatzal Wilderness, north terminus of the Mazatzal Mountains, the route traverses the contact between two important geologic units. The horizontally laid Tapeats Sandstone,Chronic, Halka (1983). ''Roadside Geology of Arizona,'' 23rd printing, Mountain Press Publishing Co. 322 pages. pp. 171–75, 229–32 (common areal extent in Grand Canyon), was deposited on

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

granite, the Zoroaster Granite. The time between the erosion of the lower unit and deposition of the horizontal sandstone above, is about 1 billion years (1,000 million years), and is named the Great Unconformity. Besides its occurrence in the Grand Canyon, it is also found west, in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

, at Frenchman Mountain. The Zoroaster Granite and other granites, were intruded into the major unit of the Vishnu Schist, the basement paleo unit found in the Inner Gorge region of the Grand Canyon. The neighboring

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 ...

range has another occurrence of the Great Unconformity, with a sandstone unit that is an analogue of the Tapeats Sandstone. The Arizona 87 highway section south of Pine is where the north Mazatzal Mountains merge into the western region of the Mogollon Rim, as the Rim continues northwest into the

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 ...

region.

References

Sources and external links

Mazatzal Wilderness Hikes
at HikeArizona.COM
Mazatzal Wilderness Area
at USFS
Mazatzal Wilderness Area
at wilderness.net
Geology of the Mazatzal Mountains, Central Arizona

Mazatzal Mountains & Wilderness Area Hiking
{{Authority control Arizona transition zone mountain ranges Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Mountain ranges of Maricopa County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Yavapai County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Gila County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona