The Laguna Mountains are a small, approximately circular mountain range of extreme southwest

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 ...

northeast of Yuma and east of

Winterhaven, California Winterhaven (formerly, Karmack) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Imperial County, California, Imperial County, California. Winterhaven is east of Pilot Knob (Imperial County, California), Pilot Knob, The population was 390 at the 2020 censu ...

on 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 ...

. The Colorado forms the western perimeter of the mountains; Mittry Lake, on the Colorado is on its northwest. 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 ...

is on the southeast and south perimeter, then has its confluence with the Colorado River. Only the north and northeast of the range is not bordered by a river basin; the north contains a small drainage west to the Colorado and Mittry Lake, and borders the south of the Yuma Proving Grounds. The northeast is bordered by the south-flowing Castle Dome Wash, arising from the

Castle Dome Mountains The Castle Dome Mountains (Tolkepaya Yavapai language, Yavapai: Wi:hopuʼ) are a mountain range in Yuma County, Arizona, within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Castle Dome (butte), Castle Dome Peak, the high point of the range, is a prominent b ...

, with Castle Dome on the northwest of Castle Dome Plain, an eastern extension of the Yuma Proving Grounds.

Laguna Mountains description

The range is a small range, circular, of about . It is on the northeast of the

Gila 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 ...

, a

valley, slightly east of the Laguna's and starting at the northern end of the Gila Mountains, and the valley containing ''northeast Yuma'', and the

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

fields that are north and northeast of the Yuma Mesa. A separate Yuma Valley is found west and southwest of Yuma, bordered on the north, west, and southwest by the Colorado River. The due north-trending section of

U.S. Route 95 U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...

begins at the southeast of the mountain range; the road exits the northeast of the Gila Valley to begin its northern stretch towards

Quartzsite, Arizona Quartzsite is a town in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 2,413. Interstate 10 runs directly through Quartzsite which is at the intersection of U.S. Route 95 and Arizona State Route 95 wi ...

, about 90 mi. The high point of the range is Boot Peak, at . The range is mineralized with historical mining claims, some still operating.

Recreational use

The range is noted for a shooting range on its south perimeter, named Adair Park. It is located in the North Gila Valley and just northwest of the northern end of the Gila Mountains of Yuma County.

External links

Laguna Mountains Summit
* {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Yuma County, Arizona Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Gila River Mountain ranges of Arizona