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1979 Map of Penitas Hills

Name: 1979 Topographic Map of Penitas Hills
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

Sierrita Mountains and the Peñitas Hills define the arid topography of this Pima County landscape, where water management is the primary marker of human activity. The map reveals a network of desert infrastructure focused on livestock and small-scale operations, notably at the Peyron Ranch and San Juan Ranch. Dozens of named water catchments and wells, such as the Cinco de Mayo Well, Papago Well, and La Cholla Tank, are linked by a web of unimproved paths and the prominent Batamote Road.

Drainage patterns are dominated by the Tascuela Wash, San Juan Wash, and Champurrado Wash, which carve through the high desert between peaks like Baldy Peak and Cerro Prieto. Evidence of mineral exploration appears in the northeast near Tascuela Canyon, where several Prospects and Quarries are noted. The density of named corrals and tanks indicates a late-20th-century ranching economy reliant on these ephemeral washes and localized groundwater sources.