The Mohave Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

located mostly on the east shore of the south-flowing

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 ...

in northwest

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 ...

. The valley extends into

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 ...

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

; the northern side of the valley extends into extreme southeast Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. The main part of the valley lies in southwest

Mohave County Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 counties in the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is th ...

, Arizona and is at the intersection of the southeast Mojave and northwest Sonoran deserts. The valley extends into the three states of California, Arizona and Nevada, and the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation extends into them as well. On the west, the valley borders the Dead Mountains of California which overlook the tri-state intersection point. Needles on

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

lies on the southwest margin of the valley overlooking the

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for wildlife like desert bighorn sheep, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, the threaten ...

and Topock Marsh. The village of Topock is located at the south end of the valley where the Chemehuevi Mountains of California restrict the Colorado to the narrow Mohave Canyon.

Mohave Valley

Mohave Valley is a 25-mile (40 km) long, north-south trending

and up to wide at some areas. Mohave Valley, Arizona, in the center of the reservation, is at the center point of the valley. Bullhead City is at the northern perimeter of the valley; Needles is on the southwest border of the valley in California. Downstream, and southeast, near the southern valley perimeter is the Topock Marsh in Arizona, and also on the southern perimeter, Interstate 40 in Arizona as it ascends uphill out of the Sacramento Wash, and eventually enters the entire north-south

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

which lies on the east, southeast, and partial south of the Black Mountains. ''Mohave Valley, Arizona'', town center of the reservation, is located at ; the town center is at the valleys center, and slightly west, closer to the Colorado River, the valley's west perimeter in many parts. The Boundary Cone landmark, lies east, at the northwest perimeter of the Black Mesa (western Arizona), a subsection mountain region at the southern end of the Black Mountains.

Water and watersheds

Arizona, southeast & east-(Sacramento Wash & Valley)

The southern end of the valley begins elevated regions, with the Mohave Mountains directly south, and Dutch Flat, east of the Mohave Mountains, which drains northwest into Sacramento Wash. The southeast of the valley meets the outfall of Sacramento Wash, and associated drainage plains; Sacramento Valley itself is mostly east and south of the Black Mesa section at the south of the Black Mountains (Arizona); the Sacramento Wash turns due west, and follows Interstate 40 in Arizona as it turns west and parallels the wash to meet Needles at the Colorado River; it is also the southern drainage outfall point into the Topock Marsh, at Topock, eastern shore of the Colorado River, in the southeast valley. Other washes drain through the eastern Mohave Valley plains and foothills into the Topock Marsh from the southwest of the Black Mountains, the extensive range which goes north to

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

Nevada, Piute Wash & Valley-(northwest)

While in Arizona the Sacramento Wash drains the

southwest of Kingman, in Nevada the Piute Wash drains the Piute Valley of southeast Nevada. A separate drainage lies between them on the Colorado River, the ''Havasu-Mohave Lakes Drainage''. These three drainages, the west, center, and east all drain into the Mohave Valley region. File:Mohave Valley 2.jpg, Mohave Valley (north) with Boundary Cone, center-right File:Mohave Valley Arizona 1.jpg, Mohave Valley, Arizona File:Needles California from southwest 1.jpg, View east-northeast of Needles, Mohave Valley, & Black Mountains (Arizona)

References

External links

Mohave Valley
area map
''Mohave Valley'', Colorado River, Bullhead City, AZ, Meedles, CA, Warm Springs Wilderness,