The Altar Valley is a 45-mile (72 km) long north–south valley, trending slightly northeast from
Sasabe, Arizona on the Mexico border to the
Avra Valley west of the
Tucson Mountains. It is delimited by
Arizona State Route 86, from east-to-west on the north separating it from the Avra Valley which then trends ''northwesterly'', merging into the plains and drainage of the
Santa Cruz River.
The valley is traversed from north to south by
Arizona Route 286.
The major
Baboquivari sky island range borders the valley on the west; the east is bordered by a series of mountain ranges, that have
Nogales, Arizona nestled in between at the
United States-Mexico border
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
. Two
wilderness areas lie to the west of the valley, the
Coyote Mountains Wilderness east of
Kitt Peak Observatory, and the
Baboquivari Peak Wilderness.
The center of the valley is near Baldy Peak in the southwest Sierrita Mountains. Baldy Peak's height is .
[Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, pp. 86–87.]
Madrean Sky Islands
The
Madrean Sky Island region of southeast
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 ...
, extreme southwest
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, northern
Sonora and extreme northwest
Chihuahua, Mexico, is the region at the northern limits of the western spine mountain of
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, the
Sierra Madre Occidental-(Mother Mountains, West). The ranges were broken up by
Basin and Range faulting, and leaving wide areas of
bajadas or
graben-type valleys, sometimes with obvious
horst-type mountain ranges; even extreme
volcanic cones can form on these horst boundaries, like the seven minor volcanoes at the northern end of the
Mohawk Mountains
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
The
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge borders the southeast Altar Valley and covers half the valley's length.
Sasabe, the U.S.-Mexico border town is surrounded by the refuge, including to the west.
The lower elevation
Cerro Colorado range borders the refuge to the northeast, the similar
San Luis Mountains to the southeast.
Table of mountain ranges
The mountains to the west and east associated with the ''Altar Valley''.
On maps 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 ...
, in the Altar Valley region, the
United States-Mexico border
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
changes direction to the northwest to end at the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
at
Yuma, Arizona. This change in border direction mostly follows a
water divide change, separating
drainage basins from each country; there are minor regional exceptions along the border to Yuma and the
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
border. Southern Arizona's desert waters flow north-northwest mostly ultimately ending at the
Gila River which starts in extreme southwestern
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
and ends at Yuma, bordering California. Mexico's border drainage is into the
Gran Desierto de Altar, with two rivers of northern
Sonora draining to the southwest into the northern
Gulf of California. These two areas of southwest Arizona and northwest Sorona are most inhospitable and dangerous in summer months. (The
Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range uses the Arizona region because of its remoteness and yeartime usage abilities by flight.)
References
External links
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Sangres.com, Refuge overview, with Altar Valley map----
Baldy Peak
{{Authority control
Valleys of Arizona
Landforms of Pima County, Arizona
Sonoran Desert