New Mexico's (Enchanted!) Mountainous Landscapes

New Mexico is located in North America, in the Southwestern portion of the United States. It is bordered by Colorado on the north and Texas and Mexico to the South. To the west, Arizona; to the east, Texas and Oklahoma. Its capital, Albuquerque, is located roughly at 35° N and 106° W.

geographic map of New Mexico

Central New Mexico's landscape is dominated by the towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Cutting vertically across North America, reaching as far north as British Columbia, they find their southernmost base near the New Mexico-Texas border. The Rio Grande River, New Mexico's most important and definitive aquatic feature, winds down through the Rockies, flowing from North to South.

Much of eastern New Mexico is covered by the Great Plains, which extend down from the foothills and High Plains of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. In this area, the Pecos River and its tributaries have worn deep valleys and canyons into the earth.

New Mexico's Great Plains

The Basin and Range Region of New Mexico, marked by its stark, jagged mountain ranges (Organ, San Andreas, Guadalupe...), disjointed by desert basins. Beginning in northern New Mexico, near Santa Fe and Rio Rancho, this region spreads southwest into Arizona and Mexico.

La Jencia Grasslands & Magdalena Mountains

New Mexico's highest natural peak is Wheeler Peak, located northeast of Taos, in the Sangre De Cristo's, the Rocky Mountain's southmost subrange. It lies at a peak elevation of 13,167 ft. which, for perspective, is just over a thousand feet lower than Mt. Elbert, Colorado's highest peak, which lies at an elevation of 14,440 ft. New Mexico, therefore, is home to no "fourteeners."

Wheeler Peak, viewed from Eagle Nest

Photo Credits:
http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/nm_maps.htm
http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/web4/blog/5037
http://northernwingsbirder.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler_Peak_(New_Mexico)

Sources:
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/new-mexico-geography.html
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/new-mexico/geography.html
http://www.summitpost.org/wheeler-peak-nm/150429