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Altar Valley
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<h2 id="madrean-sky-islands">Madrean Sky Islands</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Madrean_Sky_Islands/AU2fHEVL">Madrean Sky Island</a> region of southeast <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a>, extreme southwest <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a>, northern <a href="/facts/Sonora/cmLLIFR9">Sonora</a> and extreme northwest <a href="/facts/Chihuahua_(state)/FCeDVWL0">Chihuahua</a>, Mexico, is the region at the northern limits of the western spine mountain of <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a>, the <a href="/facts/Sierra_Madre_Occidental/AE7j8bf1">Sierra Madre Occidental</a>-(Mother Mountains, West). The ranges were broken up by <a href="/facts/Basin_and_Range_Province/r8d1aXV4">Basin and Range</a> faulting, and leaving wide areas of <a href="/facts/Alluvial_fan/NFIlTrMF">bajadas</a> or <a href="/facts/Graben/K0LSSFrg">graben</a>-type valleys, sometimes with obvious <a href="/facts/Horst_(geology)/qPz0CPfy">horst</a>-type mountain ranges; even extreme <a href="/facts/Volcanic/c2M5upml">volcanic</a> cones can form on these horst boundaries, like the seven minor volcanoes at the northern end of the <a href="/facts/Mohawk_Mountains/M3D7tYxG">Mohawk Mountains</a> </p> <h2 id="buenos-aires-national-wildlife-refuge">Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Buenos_Aires_National_Wildlife_Refuge/d8zrqndb">Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge</a> borders the southeast Altar Valley and covers half the valley's length. <a href="/facts/Sasabe%2c_Arizona/qXIDM0qh">Sasabe</a>, the U.S.-Mexico border town is surrounded by the refuge, including to the west. </p><p>The lower elevation <a href="/facts/Cerro_Colorado_Mountains/zQRjznKW">Cerro Colorado</a> range borders the refuge to the northeast, the similar <a href="/facts/San_Luis_Mountains/AtxgP04x">San Luis Mountains</a> to the southeast. </p> <h2 id="table-of-mountain-ranges">Table of mountain ranges</h2> <p>The mountains to the west and east associated with the <i>Altar Valley</i>. </p><p>On maps of <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a>, in the Altar Valley region, the <a href="/facts/United_States-Mexico_border/pIL77aCf">United States-Mexico border</a> changes direction to the northwest to end at the <a href="/facts/Colorado_River/yGEJtRAJ">Colorado River</a> at <a href="/facts/Yuma%2c_Arizona/vPQnmv50">Yuma, Arizona</a>. This change in border direction mostly follows a <a href="/facts/Water_divide/47p3QtJU">water divide</a> change, separating <a href="/facts/Drainage_basin/lzsx0XJS">drainage basins</a> from each country; there are minor regional exceptions along the border to Yuma and the <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a> border. Southern Arizona's desert waters flow north-northwest mostly ultimately ending at the <a href="/facts/Gila_River/uM5zREjV">Gila River</a> which starts in extreme southwestern <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a> and ends at Yuma, bordering California. Mexico's border drainage is into the <a href="/facts/Gran_Desierto_de_Altar/C30q6sfw">Gran Desierto de Altar</a>, with two rivers of northern <a href="/facts/Sonora/cmLLIFR9">Sonora</a> draining to the southwest into the northern <a href="/facts/Gulf_of_California/6Da8barh">Gulf of California</a>. These two areas of southwest Arizona and northwest Sorona are most inhospitable and dangerous in summer months. (The <a href="/facts/Barry_M._Goldwater_Air_Force_Range/f2MWn6hP">Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range</a> uses the Arizona region because of its remoteness and yeartime usage abilities by flight.) </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>West MtnsNorth</th><th>Valleys</th><th>East MtnsNorth</th><th>East MtnsNorth</th></tr><tr><td><i>Aguirre Valley</i></td><td>(Marana)(el 1991 ft)<i><a href="/facts/Avra_Valley%2c_Arizona/WcuBU6dW">Avra Valley</a></i></td><td><a href="/facts/Avra_Valley%2c_Arizona/WcuBU6dW">Avra Valley</a>–(Tucson)(& <a href="/facts/Tucson_Mountains/N2Aa7y3A">Tucson Mountains</a>)</td><td>(Tucson(el 2437 ft))</td></tr><tr><td><i><a href="/facts/Arizona_State_Route_86/H0rm2nry">AZ route 86</a></i></td><td><a href="/facts/Arizona_State_Route_86/H0rm2nry">AZ route 86</a> & AZ route 286<a href="/facts/Robles_Junction%2c_Arizona/gT5xYB1u">Robles Junction, AZ</a>(el 2543 ft)</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Arizona_State_Route_86/H0rm2nry">AZ route 86</a></i></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Arizona_State_Route_86/H0rm2nry">AZ route 86</a></i></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Coyote_Mountains_(Arizona)/1JAIfuKr">Coyote Mountains</a>,<a href="/facts/Coyote_Mountains_Wilderness_(Arizona)/1JAIfuKr">Wilderness</a>, & <a href="/facts/Kitt_Peak/qEp8yNeA">Kitt Peak</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Sierrita_Mountains/JbWDEQLc">Sierrita Mountains</a></td><td>xxxxxx</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Quinlan_Mountains/hMhfzeI8">Quinlan Mountains</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Cerro_Colorado_Mountains/zQRjznKW">Cerro Colorado Mountains</a><a href="/facts/Tumacacori_Mountains/WX4sTPXz">Tumacacori Mountains</a></td><td>xxxxxx(<i><a href="/facts/Santa_Rita_Mountains/FcU8K5uV">Santa Rita Mountains</a></i>)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Baboquivari_Mountains/KAD5XESJ">Baboquivari Mountains</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Tumacacori_Mountains/WX4sTPXz">Tumacacori Mountains</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Santa_Rita_Mountains/FcU8K5uV">Santa Rita Mountains</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Baboquivari_Mountains/KAD5XESJ">Baboquivari Mountains</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Tumacacori_Mountains/WX4sTPXz">Tumacacori Mountains</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Santa_Rita_Mountains/FcU8K5uV">Santa Rita Mountains</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Baboquivari_Mountains/KAD5XESJ">Baboquivari Mountains</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Atascosa_Mountains/WExf3MEk">Atascosa Mountains</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Patagonia_Mountains/jpRBA0WX">Patagonia Mountains</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Baboquivari_Mountains/KAD5XESJ">Baboquivari Mountains</a></td><td>Altar Valley</td><td><a href="/facts/Pajarito_Mountains%2c_Arizona/DQropjmn">Pajarito Mountains</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Patagonia_Mountains/jpRBA0WX">Patagonia Mountains</a></td></tr><tr><td>U.S.-Mex-border</td><td><a href="/facts/Sasabe%2c_Arizona/qXIDM0qh">Sasabe, Arizona</a>(el 3566 ft)</td><td>U.S.-Mex-border</td><td>U.S.-Mex-border</td></tr><tr><td>xxx-lowlands-xxx</td><td>Altar Valley(<a href="/facts/Water_divide/47p3QtJU">water divide</a>)</td><td><a href="/facts/Sierra_La_Esmeralda/QHAFV2g2">Sierra La Esmeralda</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Sierra_Madre_Occidental/AE7j8bf1">Sierra Madre Occidental</a>(north)</td></tr><tr><th>West MtnsSouth</th><th>Valleys</th><th>East MtnsSouth</th><th>East MtnsSouth</th></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Altar Valley. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for <i>Altar Valley</i>. <p>Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge </p> <ul><li><a href="http://www.sangres.com/arizona/wildlife-refuges/buenos-aires-nwr.htm">Sangres.com, Refuge overview, with Altar Valley map</a></li></ul> <p>Baldy Peak </p> <ul><li><a href="http://www.trails.com/trail-baldy-peak-pima-county-985.html"><i>Trails Near Baldy Peak</i>, Baldy Peak (Sierrita Mountains), (in the Black Hills (Sierrita Mountains)), coord, 31.8462-N, 111.3351-W</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Trails Near Baldy Peak <a href="http://www.trails.com/trail-baldy-peak-pima-county-985.html" target="_blank">http://www.trails.com/trail-baldy-peak-pima-county-985.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, pp. 86–87. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>