2014 Map of Swisshelm Mountain

About this map

The Swisshelm Mountains dominate this landscape in Cochise County, rising above the arid desert floor near the southern Arizona border. The high point of Swisshelm Mountain anchors the eastern half of the map, where the terrain is carved by steep drainages including the uniquely named Gila Monster Canyon. To the west, the topography levels into a broad basin defined by the Whitewater Draw, a key watercourse in this semi-arid region. The land-use patterns here are reflected in the rectangular grid of rural roads such as W Jefferson Rd and N Princess Palace Way, which trace the sectional boundaries of the Public Land Survey System. This intersection of dramatic desert peaks and structured ranching or homesteading tracts illustrates the late twentieth-century development of the region's rural frontier.