Socorro County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,595. The county seat is Socorro. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties of New Mexico Territory. Socorro was originally the name given to a Native American village by Don Juan de Oñate in 1598. Having received vitally needed food and assistance from the native population, Oñate named the pueblo Socorro.
Catron County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,579, making it New Mexico's third-least populous county. Its county seat is Reserve. Catron County is New Mexico's largest county by area.
Socorro is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of 4,579 feet (1,396 m). In 2010 the population was 9,051. It is the county seat of Socorro County. Socorro is located 74 miles (119 km) south of Albuquerque and 146 miles (235 km) north of Las Cruces.
The Tonto National Forest, encompassing 2,873,200 acres, is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the ninth largest national forest in the United States. The forest has diverse scenery, with elevations ranging from 1,400 feet in the Sonoran Desert to 7,400 feet in the ponderosa pine forests of the Mogollon Rim. The Tonto National Forest is also one of the most visited "urban" forests in the United States.
Datil is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 54. Located at the intersection of U.S. Route 60 and New Mexico State Road 12, Datil is on the edge of the Cibola National Forest. The Very Large Array is also nearby.
The Cibola National Forest is a 1,633,783 acre United States National Forest in New Mexico, US. The name Cibola is thought to be the original Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name was later interpreted by the Spanish to mean "buffalo." The forest is disjointed with lands spread across central and northern New Mexico, west Texas and Oklahoma. The Cibola National Forest is divided into four Ranger Districts: the Sandia, Mountainair, Mt. Taylor, and Magdalena. The Forest includes the San Mateo, Magdalena, Datil, Bear, Gallina, Manzano, Sandia, Mt. Taylor, and Zuni Mountains of west-central New Mexico. The Forest also manages four National Grasslands that stretch from northeastern New Mexico eastward into the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. The Cibola National Forest and Grassland is administered by Region 3 of the United States Forest Service from offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Elevation ranges from 5,000 ft to 11,301 ft. The descending order of Cibola National Forest acres by county are: Socorro, Cibola, McKinley, Catron, Torrance, Bernalillo, Sandoval County, New Mexico, Lincoln, Sierra, and Valencia counties in New Mexico. The Cibola National Forest currently has 137,701 acres designated as Wilderness. In addition to these acres, it has 246,000 acres classified as Inventoried Roadless Areas pursuant to the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Rita Blanca National Grassland is a National Grassland on the Great Plains near the community of Texline in northwest Dallam County, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle, and in southern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, in the western Oklahoma Panhandle. The principal city in the area is Dalhart, Texas, which houses the XIT Museum.
The Gila National Forest is a United States National Forest in New Mexico. Established in 1905, it now covers approximately 2,710,659 acres (10,969.65 km2), making it the sixth largest National Forest in the continental United States. The Forest administration also manage the part of the Apache National Forest in New Mexico which covers 614,202 acres for a total of 3.3 million acres managed by the Gila National Forest. Within the forest, the Gila Wilderness was established in 1924 as the US's first designated wilderness. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness and Blue Range Wilderness are also found within its borders. The Blue Range Primitive Area lies within Arizona in the neighboring Apache National Forest.
The Magdalena Mountains are a regionally high, mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is South Baldy, at 10,783 ft, which is also the tallest peak in Socorro County. The range runs roughly north–south and is about 18 miles (28 km) long. The range lies just south of the village of Magdalena, and about 18 miles (28 km) west of Socorro. The Magdalena Mountains are an east-tilted fault-block range, superimposed on Cenozoic calderas. The complex geologic history of the range has resulted in spectacular scenery, with unusual and eye-catching rock formations. They form part of the western edge of the Rio Grande Rift Valley, fronting the La Jencia Basin. The mountains remain isolated and natural due to the absence of any significant human development within or near the range.
The San Mateo Mountains are a mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is West Blue Mountain, at 10,336 ft. The range runs roughly north–south and is about 40 miles (64 km) long. It lies about 25 miles (40 km) north-northwest of the town of Truth or Consequences and about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Socorro. They should not be confused with the identically named range in Cibola and McKinley counties, north of this range.
Blue Range Wilderness, along with Aldo Leopold Wilderness and Gila Wilderness, is part of Gila National Forest. It is located on the western border of New Mexico and west of U.S. Route 180 between Reserve and Glenwood. The wilderness is crossed by the Mogollon Rim. It became part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1980.
Sandia Mountain Wilderness, part of Cibola National Forest, is located east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and comprises much of Sandia Mountains. It became part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1978 by an act of the United States Congress and has a total of 37,877 acres (15,328 ha).
Ladrón Peak is an isolated, highly visible peak in central New Mexico, lying about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Albuquerque. Ladron Peak is the only major peak in the compact range known as the Sierra Ladrones, which lies between the Rio Puerco to the east and the Rio Salado to the southwest.
Apache Kid Wilderness is a 44,626-acre (18,060 ha) Wilderness area located within the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest in the state of New Mexico. Straddling a southern portion of the San Mateo Mountains of southwestern Socorro County, the area is characterized by rugged, narrow, and steep canyons bisecting high mountain peaks exceeding 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The highest peak is West Blue Mountain which reaches an elevation of 3,151 metres (10,338 ft).
Datil National Forest was a United States National Forest established in western New Mexico by the U.S. Forest Service in 1908. It was merged into another and ceased in 1931.
Magdalena National Forest was established as the Magdalena Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico on November 5, 1906, with 153,781 acres (622.33 km2). It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908, San Mateo National Forest was added. On February 23, 1909, the forest was combined with Datil National Forest
The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area of New Mexico managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, 20 miles north of Socorro, New Mexico. The Rio Salado and the Rio Grande flow through the refuge.
The Rio Salado is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source in northeast Catron County it flows about 86 miles (138 km) generally east to join the Rio Grande just north of Polvadera and about 15 miles (24 km) north of Socorro. The name Río Salado is Spanish for "salty river".
The Datil Mountains are a small range on the northern edge of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, just northwest of the Plains of San Agustin in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The range lies in Socorro and Catron Counties, north of the town of Datil, New Mexico and takes its name from the Spanish word for “date,” dating back over two hundred years. In The Place Names of New Mexico, Robert Julyan suggests two possible explanations for the name: 1) that “the seedpods of the broad-leafed yucca sufficiently resembled dates” or 2) “the Spanish applied the name to the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.” The area includes the major ridgeline of Madre Mountain, which is sacred ground to the Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni tribes, as well as several other unnamed peaks and ridges.
The Withington Wilderness is a 19,000-acre designated Wilderness area located within the Cibola National Forest in western New Mexico. Located in the Magdalena Ranger District, approximately 20 miles southwest of Magdalena, New Mexico, the wilderness area lies around 10,100 ft. Mount Withington, on the eastern slope of the San Mateo Mountains in Socorro County, New Mexico, United States.
A black bear in Cibola National Forest. Photo: US Forest Service.
A mountain lion in the Cibola National Forest. Photo: US Forest Service.
An elk. Photo: US Forest Service.
Pronghorn are found in the Bear Mountains.
A mule deer in New Mexico. Photo: Shanthanu Bhardwaj
