The Lechuguilla Desert is a small desert located in southwestern

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 ...

near the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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 ...

border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

. It lies in a north–south direction between the Gila Mountains and the Cabeza Prieta Mountains, and almost entirely in the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. The desert is named after the lechuguilla plant, known scientifically as ''Agave lecheguilla'', which occurs exclusively in the Chihuahuan desert many hundreds of miles to the east. The desert is also on the north border of the Gran Desierto de Altar of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

, Mexico. The Lechuguilla Desert lies to the east-northeast of the connected ranges, Gila Mountains, and north of the Tinajas Altas Mountains, which extend southeast into north Sonora. To the west and southwest of the two ranges lies the

Yuma Desert The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It lies in the Salton Sink, Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of Dune ...

. The Tule Desert (Arizona) lies east of the Lechuguilla, and the Cabeza Prieta Mountains; all three deserts are at the northwest perimeter of the great desert, the Gran Desierto de Altar, and the

Pinacate Peaks The Pinacate Peaks (Sierra Pinacate, ) are a volcanic group, group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones located mostly in the Mexican state of Sonora along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by the vas ...

volcanic field region.

References

* Mapquest.com Road Atlas, 2001, pg. 9
Sonoran Desert
{{Coord, 32.4181104, -113.9832679, display=title Deserts of Arizona Sonoran Desert Deserts of the Lower Colorado River Valley Deserts of the Gran Desierto de Altar

See also

References