Harquahala Mountains

The Harquahala Mountains are the highest mountain range in south-western Arizona, south-west of the towns of Aguila and Wenden. The name comes from the Yavapai 'Hakhe:la, meaning 'running water'. The range is oriented north-east to south-west and is about 32 km long and 20 km at its widest. Harquahala Peak, the highest point, rises to 5,681 feet (1,732 m); Socorro Peak stands at the south-western end. Two prominent peaks at the north-eastern end, Eagle Eye Peak and Eagle Eye Mountain, are named for a natural opening high in one of them that appears as an eye, which also names Aguila, Spanish for eagle. The summit was used by the United States Army in the 1880s as a heliograph station, and in 1920 a Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was built there to study variations in solar output as a possible factor in climate prediction; it operated for five years before moving to Table Mountain Observatory, near Wrightwood, California. The 22,880-acre Harquahala Mountain Wilderness, designated in 1990, lies north and east of the summit, on the Maricopa-La Paz county line. Gypsum is mined at the south-western end of the range, where gold and silver were extensively mined in the past.

Where it is

Harquahala Mountains is a natural landmark near Wenden, in Maricopa County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.

How this ranking was reached

No official visitor count is published for Harquahala Mountains, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.

Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.

Sources

• Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
• Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
• County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates

Record last verified 2026-08-12.