Rio Grande Valley (New Mexico) in the context of "Sandia Crest"

New Mexico is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also borders the state of Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S.—founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain—and the highest in elevation, at 6,998 feet (2,133 m).

New Mexico is the fifth-largest of the fifty states by area, but with just over 2.1 million residents, ranks 36th in population and 45th in population density. Its climate and geography are highly varied, ranging from forested mountains to sparse deserts; the northern and eastern regions exhibit a colder alpine climate, while the west and south are warmer and more arid. The Rio Grande and its fertile valley runs from north-to-south, creating a riparian biome through the center of the state that supports a bosque habitat and distinct Albuquerque Basin climate. One–third of New Mexico's land is federally owned, including many protected wilderness areas, 15 national parks and monuments, and three UNESCO World Heritage Sites wholly contained within the state—the most of any U.S. state.

The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are a substantial mountain area that defines the eastern edge of the middle Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico. Their elevation changes provide recreational opportunities including winter skiing and summer hiking or picnicing, as compared to the desert grasslands, foothills, and Rio Grande Valley below. The entire mountain chain comprises three parts, arranged north to south: the Sandia Mountains, the Manzanita Mountains, and the Manzano Mountains. The Manzanita Mountains are a series of low-lying foothills that separate the Sandias from the Manzanos.

The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are often considered to be the easternmost major range in the Basin and Range Province. A substantial distance gap of much lower elevation grasslands and savanna exists between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Sandia Mountains, and climate conditions shift between both ranges.