24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Yarnell, AZ

Yarnell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County, a small mountain community along Arizona State Route 89 between Wickenburg and Prescott.

Gold was discovered in the Yarnell area about 1865 by pioneer Charles Genung, and the community is named for prospector Harrison Yarnell, who discovered the Yarnell mine in 1873.

Old U.S. Route 89 through Yarnell, now State Route 89, was paved in 1933 and for many years was the main highway from Phoenix to Wickenburg, Prescott and northern Arizona.

The population of Yarnell was 570 at the 2020 census, down from 649 in 2010, and the CDP covers about 8.9 square miles at an elevation of 4,780 feet.

The 2000 census counted 359 households in Yarnell, most of them small households, reflecting the community's many retirees.

On June 30, 2013, the Yarnell Hill Fire swept through the community, destroying about half of the town and killing 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighting crew.

Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, dedicated in 2016 about three miles south of Yarnell on State Route 89, honors the 19 fallen firefighters, and the Yarnell Hill Fire Memorial Park stands in downtown Yarnell.

Yarnell Hill, where the highway drops about 1,300 feet in four miles between Yarnell and the desert floor below, is a popular scenic drive.

The Shrine of St. Joseph of the Mountains, a Catholic monument with statuary set among granite boulders and a short stations-of-the-cross trail, is a local landmark.

Yarnell's economy rests on ranching, mining and services for travelers and retirees, and the community is closely linked to Peeples Valley, three miles to the north.