The Warm Springs Wilderness makes up the entirety of the Black Mesa (western Arizona) and parts of the surrounding foothills, washes,

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...

s, and valleys. The Black Mesa is the southernmost section of the Black Mountains of western

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 ...

, 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 region is in the east and southeast of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

of Arizona, southern

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. The wilderness is southwest of

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The population was 32,693 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hi ...

and east of

Mohave Valley, Arizona Mohave Valley ('Amat' 'Analy Uuhwely in Mojave language, Mojave) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The populatio ...

and

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the California border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is accessible v ...

. Oatman, AZ lies on its northwest perimeter, adjacent to the

Boundary Cone Boundary Cone is a geologic promontory located in the western foothills of the Black Mountains in Mohave County, Arizona. The peak is to the east of the Mohave Valley, northeast of Needles, California, and southeast of Bullhead City. The peak ...

landmark; Yucca, AZ is on its east in the south-central

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 ...

Interstate 40 in Arizona Interstate 40 (I-40) is an east–west Interstate Highway that has a section in the US state of Arizona, connecting sections in California and New Mexico. The Interstate is also referred to as the Purple Heart Trail to honor those wounded ...

which traverses due-south from Kingman, then turns due west of the Black Mesa and Warm Springs Wilderness perimeter to meet Needles, California, 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 wilderness is one of the many wilderness areas located in the

Lower Colorado River Valley The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is the river region of the lower Colorado River of the southwestern United States in North America that rises in the Rocky Mountains and has its outlet at the Colorado River Delta in the northern Gulf of ...

. The Mount Nutt Wilderness is adjacent north across Sitgreaves Pass, just east of Oatman.

Description

The wilderness covers the 10 mi long mesa, the stretch of the southern Black Mountains, about in elevation,Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, c 2002. Peaks (unnamed): 3789, 3632, 3346 ft. and the mesa is bisected by a central southwest-flowing wash, a tributary of the

Sacramento Wash The Sacramento Wash is a major drainage of northwest Arizona in Mohave County. The wash is east of the Black Canyon of the Colorado and drains into the south-flowing Colorado River 45 mi south of Lake Mohave, and 90 mi south of Hoover ...

, that flows into

Topock Marsh 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 threate ...

at the Colorado River. The wilderness has volcanic plugs to the north in the Mount Nutt Wilderness. One example offset on the Warm Springs border northwest, 4 mi south of

Oatman, Arizona Oatman is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Black Mountains (Arizona), Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona, Mohave County, Arizona, United States, at an elevation of . In 1915, it began as a small mining camp when two prospectors str ...

, a major landmark in

Mohave Valley The Mohave Valley is a valley located mostly on the east shore of the south-flowing Colorado River in northwest Arizona. The valley extends into California's San Bernardino County; the northern side of the valley extends into extreme southeast ...

's northeast. The various springs located on the mesa's perimeter are highest in water volume following wet winters, or periods of high summer

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al weather.

Flora and fauna

One of the major fauna elements is the

Desert Bighorn Sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The ...

References

External links

BLM
Warm Springs Wilderness at Bureau of Land Management
---- Trails
Arizona Trails West Region, (coordinates)
----
Warm Springs at wilderness.netarea mapWarm Springs at Public Lands
{{authority control Protected areas of Mohave County, Arizona Wilderness areas within the Lower Colorado River Valley Wilderness areas of Arizona IUCN Category Ib Bureau of Land Management areas in Arizona Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Arizona

Description

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links