Mesa Mesa Mesa (Spanish and Portuguese for "table") is the American English term for tableland, an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape. It may also be called a table hill, table-topped hill or table mountain. It is larger than a butte, which it otherwise resembles closely. It is a characteristic landform of arid environments, particularly the Western and Southwestern United States in badlands and mountainous regions ranging from Washington and California to the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas. Examples are also found
Upland, California located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains on an east-west trail that was used by the Native Americans and Spanish missionaries, part of what is now known as the Old Spanish Trail. To the west, the trail led to the San Gabriel Mission, which Spanish Missionaries built in 1771. In 1774, Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza established an overland route from Arizona to California, with part of the trail passing through present day Upland on the way to the San Gabriel Mission. Anza's route went through Yuma, the San Gorgonio Pass and through the San Bernardino Valley.