| Piute Valley | |
|---|---|
 View west over the middle Piute Valley,Piute Range in distance | |
  Piute Valley | |
| Length | 45 mi (72 km) N-S |
| Width | 10 mi (16 km) E-W |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| States |
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| Regions | |
| Districts | |
| Population centers | |
| Borders on | |
| Coordinates | 35°18′12″N114°52′51″W / 35.30333°N 114.88083°W /35.30333; -114.88083 |
| River | Piute Wash |
ThePiute Valley is a 45-mile-long (72 km) north–south valley southeast ofLas Vegas, Nevada, and northwest ofNeedles. The north of the valley is atSearchlight, with some of the valley extending northwest from Searchlight. At the center-north liesCal-Nev-Ari, Nevada.
The second valley southeast of Las Vegas borders to the north, theendorheicEldorado Valley, with itsdry lake. The next watershed north is theLas Vegas Wash Watershed.
The northeast portion of theMojave National Preserve makes up the northwestern region of the Piute Valley, at a four-valleywater divide point.
ThePiute Valley Watershed[1] is the first watershed southeast of Las Vegas–Lake Mead to meet the Colorado River; thePiute Wash outfall with the Colorado River is inCalifornia at Needles. The mountain ranges south of Lake Mead, bordering the river andLake Mohave are part of the Havasu-Mohave Lakes Watershed.[2]
Piute Valley is a 45-mile-long (72 km) valley, and about 10 miles (16 km) wide at its southern end. It is drained byPiute Wash with the wash turning easterly at the south to join theColorado River at Needles. The valley is bordered by three mountain ranges, all north–south ranges, with thePiute Range to the west. To the northeast is theNewberry Mountains, and to the southeast is theDead 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 ofU.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–westInterstate 40 in California and the northern foothills of theSacramento Mountains.
The southern end of the extensiveMcCullough Range converges with four valleys and three mountain ranges. West of the McCullough's lie the endorheicRoach andIvanpah Dry Lakes ofIvanpah Valley; the valley extends north into Las Vegas' southwest, a tributary to the Las Vegas Wash. Ivanpah Valley turns southeast to meet thewater divide point. Northeast of the water divide point is the southwestEldorado Valley, also endorheic with itsEldorado Dry Lake. Southwest the Piute Valley drains south, thenPiute Wash turns east and descends steeply at theDead Mountains to its outfall at theColorado River andNeedles.
TheMojave National Preserve is mostly endorheic with the west bordering onBaker, California, and the twin dry lakes ofSilver Dry Lake andSoda Dry Lake. The northeast preserve corner is anchored by the water divide point. The northeast borders of theNew York and smallerCastle Mountains meet the north of thePiute Range; to the west of the Piute's, east of the New York Mountains is the southerly draining endorheicLanfair Valley.
The Piute Valley Watershed is the first major watershed southeast of Las Vegas to drain into the western side of the south-flowing Colorado River.
ThoughPiute Wash drains Piute Valley, the entire watershed includesSacramento Wash (California) which covers an equivalent area west of the north–south Piute Range, and drains theLanfair Valley and surrounding mountain ranges.
