Copper Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Copper Mountains is a minor north-south trending mountain range, only 8 miles long in southwestern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 in the southwestern Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...

.

The Copper Mountains lie east of Yuma
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

, Arizona and east of the Yuma Desert
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 is in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With an average rainfall less than 8 inches each...

; also east of the Gila
Gila Mountains (Yuma County)
The Gila Mountains is a mountain range in southwestern Arizona in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.The Gila Mountains of Yuma County are a northwest-southeast trending mountain system, about 26 miles long; the fault-blocked mountain range is attached on the south to the Tinajas Altas Mountains...

 and Tinajas Altas Mountains. It lies on an extensive north-sloping desert plain that drains into the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...

 floodplain close to its confluence and outlet into the southern Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

 in the Lower Colorado River Valley
Lower Colorado River Valley
The Lower Colorado River Valley 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 Sea of Cortez in northwestern Mexico, between the states of Baja...

. The Lechuguilla Desert
Lechuguilla Desert
thumb|250px|right|[[Agave lechuguilla]] the plant the desert is named afterThe Lechuguilla Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert...

 and Coyote Wash lie west of the mountains; the Tule Desert
Tule Desert (Arizona)
The Tule Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert. It lies in a north-south direction to the east of the Cabeza Prieta Mountains and almost entirely in the Barry M....

 lies east. The highest point is Coyote Peak at 2808 feet (856 m).

The communities just north at about 10 miles in the Gila River agricultural valley, are Wellton
Wellton, Arizona
Wellton is a town in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 1,862. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Wellton is located at ....

, Noah, Roll
Roll, Arizona
Roll is an unincorporated community in central Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area. Named for early settler John H. Roll, it lies along the lower Gila River, between the Yuma Proving Ground and the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. Local...

, and Tacna
Tacna, Arizona
Tacna is a census-designated place in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 555 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Tacna is located at ....

, Arizona.

The Copper Mountains lie in the western portion of the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range
Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range
The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona that runs along the Mexican border....

 which is used by the MCAS, the Marine Corps Air Station
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station which is the home to multiple squadrons of AV-8B Harrier IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 , an air combat adversary...

, Yuma; also 3 miles north of the western end of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona in the United States. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect Desert Bighorn Sheep, is located along of the U.S.-Mexico border, and covers 860,010 acres — larger than the land area of the state...

.

See also

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