2021 Map of Las Playas

About this map

The international border between the United States of America and Mexico cuts diagonally across this remote desert landscape, marking a stark political division in an otherwise continuous environment. The terrain is defined by the vast Tule Desert and the geological signatures of the Pinacate Lava Flow, which spills into the Pinacate Valley at the northern edge of the sheet. Seasonal water patterns are evident in the presence of Las Playas, a large dry lake or basin, and Papago Wash to the east. The map provides a precise contemporary record of this borderland, showing how section lines and township boundaries like t15s r11w and t16s r11w impose a grid on the open desert flats and volcanic remnants near the border.