Copper Canyon is a group of six distinct canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua in northwestern Mexico that is 65,000 square kilometres (25,000 sq mi) in size. The canyons were formed by six rivers that drain the western side of the Sierra Tarahumara. All six rivers merge into the Rio Fuerte and empty into the Gulf of California. The walls of the canyon are a copper/green color, which is the origin of the name.
Basaseachic Falls on the Basaseachic River is the second-highest waterfall in Mexico, located in the Parque Nacional Basaseachic at Cañón Basaseachic in the Copper Canyon region of northwest Mexico, near Creel, Chihuahua. It is 246 meters (807 ft) tall, second in Mexico only to the Cascada de Piedra Volada.
The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico, and a portion of southeastern Arizona, as well as the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau. It is bordered on the west by the Sonoran Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, along with northwestern lowlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of Chihuahua, along with portions of Coahuila, north-eastern Durango, the extreme northern part of Zacatecas, and small western portions of Nuevo León. With an area of about 501,896 km2 (193,783 sq mi), it is the largest desert in North America. The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consist of an almost continuous sequence that form the western "sounds" of North America, Central America, South America, and West Antarctica.
The Cumbres de Majalca National Park is a national park in the Mexican state of Chihuahua located 88 km northwest of the city of Chihuahua. The park showcases extraordinary rock formations that have been shaped by wind and water erosion. The park was created by presidential decree in 1939 encompassing 4,772 hectares to protect the endemic flora and fauna. The park is characterized by pine and oak forest. It is also one of the few areas in Mexico that are inhabited by black bear.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
Piedra Volada Falls is a 453-meter tall plunge rainy season waterfall in the Barranca Candameña of the Sierra Madre Occidental range in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Aridoamerica denotes an ecological region spanning Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, defined by the presence of the culturally significant staple foodstuff Phaseolus acutifolius, a drought-resistant bean. Its dry, arid climate and geography stand in contrast to the verdant Mesoamerica of present-day central Mexico into Central America to the south and east, and the higher, milder "island" of Oasisamerica to the north. Aridoamerica overlaps with both.
Chihuahua, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Chihuahua, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is located in the northwestern part of Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the southwest, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east. To the north and northeast, it shares an extensive border with the U.S. adjacent to the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. Its capital city is Chihuahua City; the largest city is Ciudad Juárez.
The Sierra San Luis range is a mountain range in northwest Chihuahua, northeast Sonora, Mexico at the northern region of the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera. The region contains sky island mountain ranges, called the Madrean Sky Islands, some separated from the Sierra Madre Occidental proper, and occurring in the northeastern Sonoran Desert, and extreme west-northwestern Chihuahuan Desert. Many of the ranges occur in southeast Arizona.
The Pajarito Mountains is a small mountain range of western Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States, that extend south into Sonora, Mexico. The range is adjacent the Atascosa Mountains at its north, with both ranges in the center of a north-south sequence of ranges called the Tumacacori Highlands. The Highlands have the Tumacacori Mountains at the north, and south of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Sierra La Esmeralda range. The Tumacacori Highlands are part of a regional conservancy study of "travel corridors" for cats, called Cuatro Gatos, Four Cats, for mountain lions, ocelot, bobcat, and jaguar.
Quercus tarahumara is a species of tree in the beech family. It grows in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the Mexican States of Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, and Sinaloa. Some of the populations lie within the territory occupied by the Tarahumara people, after whom the species is named. It is placed in Quercus section Lobatae.
Sierra de Órganos National Park is a national park in Mexico, located in the northwest corner of the municipality of Sombrerete in the state of Zacatecas, near the border with Durango. The park is known for its diverse aridland ecosystem and towering rock formations of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which are reminiscent of organ pipe cacti or the pipes of the musical instrument, from which the park takes its name.
The Sinaloan dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western Mexico. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the Neotropical realm.
Magnolia tarahumara is a species of flowering plant in the family Magnoliaceae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it occurs in scattered locations in the Sierra Madre Occidental of southeastern Sonora, southwestern Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and northwestern Durango.
Bavispe Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected area in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico.
Papigochic Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected area in Chihuahua state of Mexico. It covers an area of 2227.64 km2 in the eastern Sierra Madre Occidental. To the northwest it adjoins Tutuaca Flora and Fauna Protection Area.
Campo Verde Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected area in northern Mexico. It covers an area of 1080.67 km2 in northwestern Chihuahua, on the border with Sinaloa. It is at the eastern edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental, where it meets the Chihuahuan Desert.
The Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit is a protected natural area in west-central Mexico. It extends across portions of southern Sierra Madre Occidental and the westernmost Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It has an area of 23290.27 km2, covering portions of southern Durango, northern Jalisco, eastern Nayarit, southern Zacatecas, and western Aguascalientes states.
El Tepozteco National Park is a national park in Morelos state of central Mexico. It protects 232.58 km2 in the mountains of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The park includes El Tepozteco, an archeological site featuring an Aztec temple.
