The Mescal Mountains (in

Western Apache language The Western Apache language is a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan language spoken among the 14,000 Western Apaches in Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua and in east-central Arizona. There are approxim ...

: Nadah Choh Dasán – "Big Mescal Sitting There") are a series of connected mountain ridges in southern

Gila County, Arizona Gila County ( ) is a county 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 which is inclu ...

. Their highest point is El Capitan Mountain, which has an elevation of 6,568 ft ( 2,002 m) and a prominence of 1,828 ft ( 557 m ). The highest point has a

topographic isolation The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum geographical distance, horizontal distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and is ...

of 5.98 miles (10 km), with the nearest point of equal or greater elevation being to the north west in the Pinal Mountains (in Apache: ). The mountain ridges are visible in the east from

Arizona State Route 77 State Route 77 (SR 77) is a long state highway in Arizona that traverses much of the state's length, stretching from its southern terminus at a junction with I-10 in Tucson to its northern terminus with BIA Route 6 at the Navajo Nation boundar ...

between

Globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

and Winkelman.The range is approximately 10 miles west of San Carlos Lake, which lies in the

San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation (Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed fro ...

; the ridges themselves also mostly fall within the boundary of the reservation, with the exception of the western section and the high point. As such, hiking the ridge may require special permission from San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, although no trails exist on the mountains themselves or leading to them. The ridge's relative proximity to the more visually dominant Pinal Mountains, (which are also visible from the same section of the AZ 77 highway) make it an often-overlooked feature. The range is one of many to occur in the

Arizona transition zone The Arizona transition zone is a diagonal northwest-by-southeast region across central Arizona. The region is a transition from the higher-elevation Colorado Plateau in Northeast Arizona and the Basin and Range region of lower-elevation desert ...

Location

The ranges' high point of El Capitan Mountain is located at the coordinates 33.2001°N, 110.7562°W. The mountains are located in southern Gila County, Arizona, on the southwestern boundary of the San Carlos Indian Reservation, and the nearest towns are

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and Winkelman to the south.

References

{{coord, 33, 10, 10, N, 110, 42, 48, W, type:mountain_region:US-AZ, display=title Mountain ranges of Gila County, Arizona Arizona transition zone mountain ranges Mountain ranges of Arizona