- Tenmile Wash
Tenmile Wash is an
ephemeral wash and watercourse about 85-miles (137-km) long in the northernSonoran Desert of south-central Arizona. It forms the eastern drainage of a two drainage system of dry washes into theGila River Valley; both flow northwesterly, and the western drainage is the "San Cristobal Wash Drainage" of approximately the same length.Description of Tenmile Wash & drainage
Tenmile Wash begins east of Ajo, Arizona. The Little Ajo and
Growler Mountains are west; a series of mountains form the eastern perimeter, and especially thePozo Redondo Mountains in the southeast. At this point awater divide occurs with the drainage south actually turning back northwest as part of the San Cristobal drainage through theGrowler Valley -(and is the north end of theValley of the Ajo ).East and north of Ajo, Tenmile wash flows northwest through the
Childs Valley , on its eastern edge, as the west side of the Childs is the "Daniels Wash", again flowing into the San Cristobal drainage to the west.At the downsteam north end, Tenmile Wash traverses the western
Sentinel Plain and enters the Gila River Valley through a short 5-mile "Canyon Diablo"; the watercourse then forms its own watercourse flowing southwestwards paralleling the Gila River to the north. They merge convert|20|mi|km|0 downstream.Midway Wash is the eastern portion of the "Tenmile Wash Drainage"; it also drains northwesterly into regions of the southern and central Sentinal Plain.
Access to Tenmile Wash
The north region of the Tenmile Wash traverses Interstate 8 convert|11|mi|km|0 west of Sentinel and 2 miles east of Aztec. The southern region is accessed easily in the Ajo, Arizona region on State Route 85; dirt roads also exit west from the north-south State Route 85 route, to access other parts of Tenmile Wash.
External links
* [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15070202 Tenmile Wash Watershed Map]
* [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15070203 San Cristobal Wash Watershed Map]
* [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15070101 Lower Gila--Painted Rock Reservoir Watershed Map] - the upstream watershed:Painted Rock Reservoir
* [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15070201 Lower Gila Watershed Map] - the downstream watershed-(entering the Colorado River)
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