Painted Rock Mountains The Gila River crosses all of southern Arizona from southwest New Mexico, and is the drainage for about 1/2 of Arizona (the south). The highest elevation in the mountains is "unnamed" at , and is located at the central & east region of the range. (The range has many northwest-by-southeast ridgelines.) Painted Rock Mountains The Painted Rocks Mountains are a short 15-mile (24 km) long mountain range of the north-central Sonoran Desert southwest of Phoenix, Arizona and in southwest Maricopa County. The Gila River flows through the central-north end of the range. The famous Painted Rock Petroglyph Site lies at
Painted Desert Inn as the Stone Tree House due to much local petrified wood used in its architectural elements. After post-war design revisions by architect Mary Jane Colter, it was operated by the Fred Harvey Company as a Harvey House from 1947 to 1963, when it closed. Demolition was proposed in the mid-1970s, but after public protests the building was reopened for limited use in 1976. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The main lodge building of the Painted Desert Inn was extensively rehabilitated and restored, reopening as a museum and bookstore in 2006. Overnight accommodations and food service are