The entire southern part of the reserve lying beyond the Prieto Plateau
is an excessively broken mountainous country, with abrupt changes in
altitude from the hot canyons, where cottonwoods flourish, to the high
ridges, where pines and firs abound.
The northeastern part of the section of the reserve under consideration
is cut off from the rest by the valley of Nutrioso Creek, a tributary of
the Little Colorado, and by the headwaters of the San Francisco
River. It is a limited district, mainly occupied by Escudilla Mountain,
rising to 10,691 feet, and its foothills. Escudilla Mountain slopes
abruptly to a long truncated summit, and is heavily forested from base
to summit by pines, aspens and spruces. On the south the foothills merge
into the generally mountainous area. On the north, at an altitude of
about 8,000 feet, they merge into the plains of the Little Colorado,
varied by grassy prairies and irregular belts of pinon timber.
The upper parts of the Little Colorado and Black Rivers, above 7,500
feet, are clear and cold, and well stocked with a native species of
small brook trout.
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