The
Tumacacori Highlands is a series of connected mountain ranges in western Santa Cruz County. The Highlands are northwest of
Nogales and are bordered on the east by the
Santa Cruz River Valley, that is traversed north–south by
Interstate 19. Across the valley eastwards are the tall
Santa Rita Mountains in the northeast, and the smaller
San Cayetano Mountains, east and adjacent to Nogales's northeast. The sequence of the north-to-south Tumacacori Highlands is as follows: North to south: •
Tumacacori Mountains • Peck Canyon – (Peck Canyon Road) •
Atascosa Mountains – (6 mi × 9 mi) • Ruby Road – (to
Ruby, Arizona);
Pena Blanca Lake •
Pajarito Mountains •
Mexico-Arizona border •
Sierra La Esmeralda – (the Emerald Mountains) A Santa Cruz county-border "bootheel" extends southwest; the bootheel contains
Cobre Ridge, and it is connected northwest to a small range, the
San Luis Mountains which are in the southeast of the
Altar Valley, and borders the
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Historical mission communities, at
Tumacacori National Historical Park, in
Tumacacori, lie at the southeast foothills of the Tumacacori Mountains. ==See also==