This view looks towards the southeast from the summit of the Hedgpeth Hills (elevation here is 1862 feet, ~568m), just north of Glendale, Arizona.  In the far distance, you can barely make out the tall buildings of downtown Phoenix, just below the left end of the faint, blue silhouette of South Mountain.
   This end of the hills (the east end) is composed mostly of , and is some of the youngest rock in the Phoenix area, at probably between 20 and 13 million years old.  One could call this small range Phoenix's "Black Hills", as they stand out in such stark, dark contrast to the lighter colored desert all around.  They are especially prominent as one drives along SR101, the Agua Fria Freeway, between I-17 and Sun City.
   The mountains in the distance on the left, the , include Shaw Butte, from which you can see a reverse view.
 
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   See the GeoHistory page if you want to know more about why the landscape looks the way it does, or return to the map of "The Rocks of the Valley of the Sun" for more view locations.
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