A high desert wilderness of volcanic plugs, deep canyons, and bighorn sheep habitat in Arizona's Black Mountains.
Mount Nutt Wilderness
Mount Nutt Wilderness is a protected wilderness area in the central Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona, in Mohave County. It was established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The landscape is defined by rugged desert terrain, including a maze of canyons, steep mesas, and weathered volcanic plugs that rise abruptly from the surrounding basin.
The wilderness is named for Mount Nutt, a peak that reaches 5,216 feet, anchoring the centre of the protected area. Despite the arid setting, scattered springs along the lower elevations support cottonwoods, willows, and oaks, creating localised pockets of riparian vegetation. These watered pockets also sustain one of the area's most valued species, the desert bighorn sheep, which moves through the rugged canyons and cliff country.
Mount Nutt Wilderness offers a remote, lightly developed desert experience relatively close to Bullhead City and the Colorado River corridor. Two named hiking routes, the Cave Spring Trail and the Twin Springs Trail, provide access into the canyons and the spring-fed vegetation zones that define the area's ecological character.