| Sierra Pinta | |
|---|---|
  Sierra Pinta | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Unnamed |
| Elevation | 2,202 ft (671 m) |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| Range coordinates | 32°15′47″N 113°32′35″W / 32.2631118°N 113.5429672°W |
The Sierra Pinta or Sierra Pintas (colloquial Spanish for 'Painted Mountains') are a narrow remote block faulted northwest-southeast trending mountain range, about 22 miles (35 km) long located in southwestern Arizona in the arid northwestern Sonoran Desert, just north of the Pinacate Reserve of northern Sonora, Mexico. The mountains derive their name from visitor descriptions of its multicolored hues when viewed at sunrise and sunset.
The north end of the range contains the peak called Point of the Pintas at 1,272 feet (388 m), then Bean Pass; adjacent southward is the peak Isla Pinta, at 2,008 feet (612 m), and Sunday Pass. The Sierra Pinta range is toward the southern end of the Mohawk Valley, which also borders the range on the east, and east to the Bryan Mountains. West of the Sierra Pintas is the Tule Desert, and south in northern Sonora is the El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar, the extensive and active volcanic and cinder cone field and preserve. The highest peak in the range is Pinta Benchmark at 2,950 feet (899 m).
An early noting of the existence of the Sierra Pinta Range was in the explorations of Anza.[1]
- ^ Herbert Eugene Bolton et al. 1966