The Lukachukai Mountains are a mountain range in

northeast Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the s ...

, entirely located on the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

. The highest point of the range is an unnamed point at above sea level. While open during the winter, no road maintenance is performed and chains or four wheel drive with good snow tires are essential due to grades of up to 14% in many places. The Lukachukai Mountain trail gives access to some of the scenic red-rock high country here. The trailhead is located just south of Buffalo Pass on Indian Route 13, a paved highway. The trail is passable to OHVs in dry weather. A permit is required from the Navajo Nation government. There is a belt of uranium deposits that crosses the Lukachukai Mountains. The ore belt is within a bed of lenticular

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

that apparently provided sufficient permeable sandstone for the passage of ore solutions, and sufficient impermeable mudstone to restrict movement of solutions to particular sandstone beds. An unusual concentration of organic material (carbonized wood?) served as a precipitation agent.

Popular culture

The mountains are the opening setting for

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his w ...

The Blessing Way ''The Blessing Way'' is a crime fiction, crime novel by American writer Tony Hillerman, the first in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series. First published in 1970, it introduces the character of officer Joe Leaphorn. Two anthr ...

References

{{Coord, 36.4844455, -109.2037118, display=title, format=dms Mountain ranges of Apache County, Arizona Arizona placenames of Native American origin Geography of the Navajo Nation Mountain ranges of Arizona