Wilderness Areas links in New Mexico

This Wilderness, which straddles the crest of the Black Range and contains the most rugged and wild portion of these mountains, pays tribute to one of the greatest pioneers of Wilderness preservation.

Angered by his relentless raids, local ranchers hunted down and killed the Apache Kid on these grounds. To mark the site of the Kid's undoing, the vengeful posse blazed a tree, the hacked remains of which you can see to this day.

From the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, a large population of prehistoric people (known today as the Anasazi) flourished among the cream and tan cliffs and pi-on-juniper-forested mesas of the Four Corners region. The dramatic setting, now Bandelier Na

An eerie otherworldliness surrounds Bisti Badlands, especially when the moon casts shadows across the hoodoos, weird rock formations with mazelike passages. Difficult as it is to believe, this stark landscape, once buried beneath an ancient sea...

Combine New Mexico's Blue Ridge Wilderness with Arizona's Blue Range Primitive Area and you have two pieces of earth that encompass a wild, generally dry, and seemingly endless expanse of rough but beautiful terrain.

On a quiet day in November you'll hear the haunting cry of sandhill cranes echoing across the marsh and grasslands of 57,191-acre Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

On a quiet day in November you'll hear the haunting cry of sandhill cranes echoing across the marsh and grasslands of 57,191-acre Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The birthplace of Smokey the Bear, discovered here as a cub in 1951, is a rugged piece of mountain real estate that straddles something that's unusual in New Mexico: an east-west-running range. Numerous canyons cut into the north side of the rocky range,

With 113 documented caves including the world-famous Carlsbad Cavern and Lechuguilla Cave at over 120 miles in length, Carlsbad Caverns National Park deserves its international reputation.

Part of El Malpais National Conservation Area, Cebolla Wilderness lies just across State Highway 117 from West Malpais Wilderness but offers easier traveling than the ominously raw volcanic terrain of the badlands. Cebolla shares its eastern border with t

The Wild and Scenic Chama River, popular among river rafters and canoeists, runs through six miles of the Wilderness. Its beauty is so impressive that most people don't bother visiting the relatively unspectacular grassland that dominates the upland porti

Cruces Basin Wilderness, located just south of the Colorado line, contains some of New Mexico's most pristine country. Cruces Basin Wilderness contains great opportunities for solitude.

Dome Wilderness seems dwarfed by the adjacent Bandelier Wilderness , but sometimes the best gifts come in small packages. In this case, be prepared for primitive canyonlands and prehistoric ruins (and take care not to disturb the latter).

On June 3, 1924, at Aldo Leopold's insistence, Gila became the world's first designated Wilderness area (and also New Mexico's largest Wilderness). Today this is one of the best destinations for backpackers in America.

This remote area has deep forest cover interrupted only by pleasant meadows and alpine tundra on the northern portion's Latir Mesa. With three peaks exceeding 12,500 feet in elevation, including a portion of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this Wilderness

Don't let this area deceive you. It looks devoid of scenery from a distance, but is full of surprises the farther in you hike. The same held true in the early 1700s, when explorers visiting a small village on the eastern edge of these mountains discovered

Historically, several human cultures have tried to carve a living from Ojito's resources. Although there are several types of ruins within the area, including those of the prehistoric Puebloan, Navajo, and Hispanic cultures, few historic records exist con

Steep walled canyons, long, broad mesa tops, heavily forested slopes, and rugged ridges with peaks above timberline characterize the Santa Fe Mountains of the Pecos Wilderness.

Migratory waterfowl may consider this a sufficient winter home, but birders will see it as paradise.

Although the elevation averages 10,000 feet above sea level, San Pedro Parks Wilderness is bereft of the usual dramatic peaks and picturesque cliffs. Instead, expect high, relatively moist, rolling mountaintops with numerous meadows and large grassy "park

Despite the fact that these mountains tower above the very nearby sprawl of Albuquerque and despite the fact that the trails of this Wilderness may be more heavily used than any other trail system in the state, Sandia Mountain Wilderness still provides an

El Malpais is Spanish for "the badlands," a name that perfectly describes this region of New Mexico, where countless volcanic eruptions sent rivers of molten rock and flying cinders over what is now a bleak valley of three million years' worth of hardened

About 135 million years ago a tremendous geologic uplift created the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Wheeler Peak Wilderness now marks the top of this rugged range

With elevations reaching 11,580 feet, up to six feet of snow blankets these mountains from the middle to latter part of November until as late as June, hence the name White Mountains.

In the northern extreme of the San Mateo Mountains and almost entirely on their eastern slopes lies the little-known Withington Wilderness, a land of precious and often parched solitude. Elevations range from 6,800 feet to 10,100 feet atop Mount Withingto