Gila River Valley

The Gila River Valley is a long, multi-sectioned valley carved by the Gila River across southern Arizona, running roughly 310 miles from its origin in western New Mexico west and southwest through Graham, Pinal, Gila, Maricopa and Yuma counties before the river empties near Yuma. At its widest the valley spans about 14 miles, and it takes in the towns of Safford, Winkelman, Florence, Buckeye and Yuma, with the Salt River Valley joining it near Phoenix and smaller irrigated sections such as Dome, Mohawk and Hyder valleys in the southwest. Since the nineteenth century the valley natural flow has been extensively reshaped by irrigation canals built by settlers.