Weaver's Needle is a 1000 feet (304.8 m) column of rock that forms a distinctive peak visible for many miles around. Located in the Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains

The Superstition Mountains , popularly referred to as "The Superstitions", are a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area...

 east of Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Weaver's Needle was created when a thick layer of tuff (fused volcanic ash) was heavily eroded, creating the spire as an erosional remnant with a summit elevation of 4553 ft. It is set in a desert landscape of cactus and mesquite

Mesquite

Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...

 bush, with large Saguaro

Saguaro

The saguaro is a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in the U.S. state of Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, a small part of Baja California in the San Felipe Desert and an extremely small area of California, U.S...

 cacti particularly prominent. The peak was named after mountain man Pauline Weaver

Pauline Weaver

Pauline Weaver , also called Paulino Weaver, was an American mountain man, trapper, military scout, prospector, and explorer who was active in the early southwestern United States...

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Weaver's Needle has played a significant role in the stories of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is reportedly a very rich gold mine hidden in the Superstition Mountains, near Apache Junction, east of Phoenix, Arizona in the United States...

. The Needle's shadow reportedly indicates the location of a rich vein of gold, and many treasure hunters have searched for it. The hunt for gold around Weaver's Needle has been pursued by hundreds (possibly thousands) of people. Weaver's Needle has a large split in the side that makes it look like it has two tops, not one. This can only be viewed from the side.