Piute Valley | |
Valley | |
View west over the middle Piute Valley
(Piute Range in distance) |
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Country | United States |
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States | Nevada, California |
Region | (southeast)-Mojave Desert ((East border)-Mojave National Preserve) (Lower Colorado River Valley) |
Districts | Clark County, NV, San Bernardino County, CA |
Borders on | Piute Range-W Newberry Mountains (Nevada)-NE Dead Mountains-SE (Interstate 40 in California-S) |
Cities | Cal-Nev-Ari, NV, Searchlight, NV-N |
River | Piute Wash |
Coordinates | 35°18′12″N 114°52′51″W / 35.30333°N 114.88083°WCoordinates: 35°18′12″N 114°52′51″W / 35.30333°N 114.88083°W |
Length | 45 mi (72 km), N-S |
Width | 10 mi (16 km), E-W |
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The Piute Valley is a 45-mile-long (72 km) north–south valley southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Needles. The north of the valley is at Searchlight, with some of the valley extending northwest from Searchlight. At the center-north lies Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada.
The second valley southeast of Las Vegas borders to the north, the endorheic Eldorado Valley, with its dry lake. The next watershed north is the Las Vegas Wash Watershed.
The northeast portion of the Mojave National Preserve makes up the northwestern region of the Piute Valley, at a four-valley water divide point.
The Piute Valley Watershed is the first watershed southeast of Las Vegas–Lake Mead to meet the Colorado River; the Piute Wash outfall with the Colorado River is in California at Needles. The mountain ranges south of Lake Mead, bordering the river and Lake Mohave are part of the Havasu-Mohave Lakes Watershed.
Piute Valley is a 45-mile-long (72 km) valley, and about 10 miles (16 km) wide at its southern end. It is drained by Piute Wash with the wash turning easterly at the south to join the Colorado River at Needles. The valley is bordered by three mountain ranges, all north–south ranges, with the Piute Range to the west. To the northeast is the Newberry Mountains, and to the southeast is the Dead Mountains range, where Piute Wash borders its southwest and south perimeter.
Searchlight is at the north of the valley, with a 5-mile (8.0 km) grade of U.S. Route 95 in Nevada north of Searchlight to the beginning of the Eldorado Valley. U.S. 95 is the route traversing the Piute Valley north–south, connecting at the south to the east–west Interstate 40 in California and the northern foothills of the Sacramento Mountains.