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.
Cibola County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,172. Its county seat is Grants. It is New Mexico's youngest county, and the third youngest county in the United States, created on June 19, 1981, from the westernmost four-fifths of the formerly much larger Valencia County.
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.
Reserve is a village in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 289 as of the 2010 census, down from 387 in 2000. It is the county seat of Catron County. Currently the village has two grocery stores, a hardware store, a bar, fairgrounds, and a health clinic. It is the site where Elfego Baca held off a gang of Texan cowboys who wanted to kill him for arresting cowboy Charles McCarty.
Aragon is a census-designated place on the Tularosa River in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 94. It is located at an altitude of 7,135 feet (2,175 m), 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Apache Creek.
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.
The Zuni Indian Reservation, also known as Pueblo of Zuni, is the homeland of the Zuni tribe of Native Americans. In Zuni language, the Zuni Pueblo people are referred to as A:shiwi, and the Zuni homeland is referred to as Halona Idiwan’a meaning Middle Place.
Pie Town is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located along U.S. Highway 60 in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 186. Pie Town's name comes from an early bakery that specialized in dried-apple pies; it was established by Clyde Norman in the early 1920s. Pie Town has been noted for its colorful place name. Pie Town is the location of a "Pie Festival" on the second Saturday of each September. Pie Town is located immediately north of the Gila National Forest and not very far west of the Plains of San Agustin, the location of the Very Large Array radio telescope, which is also located along U.S. 60. In addition, one of the ten large radio antennas that form the Very Long Baseline Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory can be seen from U.S. 60, just east of Pie Town.
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.
Quemado is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 228. Walter De Maria's 1977 art installation, The Lightning Field, is between Quemado and Pie Town, New Mexico.
Apache Creek is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 67. Located 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Cruzville, it is situated at the confluence of Apache Creek and the Tularosa River. The Apache Creek Pueblo, also called the "Apache Creek Ruin", is near the town. It was listed by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Commission in 1969.
U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is an east–west United States Highway within New Mexico. It begins at the Arizona state line and continues east to the Texas state line.
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.
New Mexico State Road 52 (NM 52) is an approximately 88.6 mi (142.6 km) long state highway in Socorro County in the state of New Mexico. It runs approximately north–south. Its northern terminus is near the Very Large Array at U.S. Route 60 (US 60) between the towns of Magdalena to the east and Datil to the west. For much of its length, it is running west of the two southern sections of the Magdalena District of Cibola National Forest, as well as running east of Gila National Forest. For approximately 30 miles or so nearest to its southern terminus, it runs east from Winston, NM. Its southern terminus is in Truth or Consequences at NM 181. For the two miles nearest to the southern terminus, the road is also designated NM 181. It is a paved 2 lane road north to the NM 59 junction and is graded dirt road for approximately 40–45 miles from near the junction of NM 59 to the VLA.
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 Bear Mountains lie just north of the village of Magdalena and north of the Magdalena Mountains in New Mexico. The Bear Mountains are located within the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. There are two Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA) within the Bear Mountains: the Scott Mesa IRA and the Goat Spring IRA. The Bureau of Land Management’s Sierra Ladrones Wilderness Study Area stretches to the northeast of the Bear Mountains and connects the Bear Mountains with the 230,000-acre Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge to the east. The world-renowned Very Large Array lies to the southwest of the Bear Mountains.
Escudilla Bonita is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 119 as of the 2010 census.
Homestead is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 47 as of the 2010 census.
Quemado Independent Schools is a school district headquartered in Quemado, New Mexico, U.S. Shelby Perea of the Albuquerque Journal described the district, located in a rural area, as being "small".
