Black Hills (Yavapai County)

For the other mountain range in Arizona, see Black Hills (Greenlee County). For other uses, see Black Hills (disambiguation).

The Black Hills of Yavapai County (in Yavapai: Waulkayauayau – "pine tableland") are a large mountain range of central Arizona in southeast Yavapai County. It is bordered by the Verde Valley to the east. The northwest section of the range is bisected from the southeast section by Interstate 17, which is the main route connecting Phoenix to Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, and Flagstaff. This bisection point is the approximate center of the mostly northwest by southeast trending range. The northwest section contains a steep escarpment on the northeast with the Verde Valley, the escarpment being the location of the fault-block that created the historic mining district at Jerome.^[1] The United Verde Mine was one of the largest copper mines in the United States, producing large quantities of copper, gold, silver and zinc.^[2]

Black Hills (Yavapai County) Mingus Mountain
View looking up the escarpment, (from western Verde Valley)
Highest point
Peak	Woodchute Mountain
Elevation	7,844 ft (2,391 m)
Coordinates	34°44′59″N 112°10′31″W
Dimensions
Length	45 mi (72 km) NW-SE
Width	15 mi (24 km)
Geography
Black Hills (Yavapai County) Mingus Mountain Black Hills in Arizona
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Region	Arizona transition zone (north-central to Sonoran Desert)
County	Yavapai
River	Verde River
Settlements	Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Cherry (ghost town), Jerome and Cornville
Range coordinates	34°44′59″N 112°10′31″W
Borders on	Verde River, Verde Valley, Lonesome Valley, Mazatzal Mountains and Bradshaw Mountains

The range is also the first major fault-blocked range west of the Mogollon Rim on the southwest margin of the Colorado Plateau in Arizona. They are bordered to the east by the Verde Fault zone, and to the west by the Coyote Fault zone. The range is at the northwest-center of the Arizona transition zone which extends diagonally across central Arizona.^[1]

Description

The highest point of the Black Hills (Arizona) is Woodchute Mountain at 7,844 feet (2,391 m).^[3][4] Mingus Mountain lies 4.0 miles (6.4 km) south of Woodchute Mountain with historic Cherry 8.7 miles (14.0 km) further to the southeast.

Three wilderness areas are located in the range, the Woodchute Wilderness in the northwest,^[5] and the Cedar Bench,^[6] and Pine Mountain Wildernesses in the southeast.^[7]