Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the context of Fourteeners

The Southern Rocky Mountains are a major subregion of the Rocky Mountains of North America located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, the central and western portions of Colorado, the northern portion of New Mexico, and extreme eastern portions of Utah. The Southern Rocky Mountains are also commonly known as the Southern Rockies, and since the highest peaks are located in the State of Colorado, they are sometimes known as the Colorado Rockies, although many important ranges and peaks rise in the other three states. The Southern Rockies include the highest mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains and include all 30 of the highest major peaks of the Rockies.

The Southern Rocky Mountains are generally divided from the Western Rocky Mountains by the Green River and the Colorado River below the Green River. The Southern Rockies are divided from the Central Rocky Mountains by South Pass in Wyoming and the drainage running east from the pass down the Sweetwater River and the North Platte River; and the drainage running southwest from the pass down Pacific Creek and Sandy Creek to the Green River. This divide between the Southern Rockies and the Central Rockies provided the lowest elevation traverse of the Rocky Mountain region for the historic Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail. The southern end of the Rocky Mountains are considered to be the Jemez Mountains and the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. Mountains south of here in N.M. are classified as the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion using the EPA Ecoregions System.

The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately 122 miles (196 km) long and 74 miles (119 km) wide, making it the largest alpine valley in the world. It extends from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It contains 6 counties and portions of 3 others. It is an extensive high-elevation depositional basin of approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 km) with an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. The valley is a section of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The San Luis Valley has a cold desert climate but has substantial water resources from the Rio Grande and groundwater.

The San Luis Valley was ceded to the United States by Mexico following the Mexican–American War. Hispanic settlers began moving north and settling in the valley after the United States made a treaty with the Utes and established a fort in the early 1850s. Prior to the Mexican war the Spanish and Mexican governments had reserved the valley to the Utes. Later in the 19th century Anglo settlers began to settle in the valley and engaged in mining, ranching, and irrigated agriculture. Today the valley has a diverse Anglo and Hispanic population.

The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers 1,558,452 acres (6,306.83 km). Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 feet (4000 m) at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. The Jemez, Coyote, and Cuba districts are located in the Jemez Mountains; the Pecos/Las Vegas district is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains; and the Española district is located in both mountain ranges. In descending order of land area the forest lies in parts of Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Mora, and Los Alamos counties. Forest headquarters are located in the city of Santa Fe.

Santa Fe National Forest was established on July 1, 1915 by the U.S. Forest Service with the amalgamation of Jemez National Forest to the west of Santa Fe and Pecos National Forest to the east.The former division is remembered in the ranger districts, with the Jemez Ranger District to the west and the Pecos/Las Vegas district to the east. The western district is adjacent to the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is administered by the National Park Service.

Santa Fe (/ˌsæntə ˈfeɪ, ˈsæntə ˌfeɪ/ SAN-tə FAY, -⁠ fay; Spanish: [santa ˈfe]; Spanish for 'Holy Faith') is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-most populous city in the state with a population of 87,505 as of the 2020 census, while the Santa Fe metropolitan area has an estimated 158,000 people. The greater Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Los Alamos combined statistical area includes eight counties in north-central New Mexico with 1.16 million residents. The county seat of Santa Fe County, Santa Fe is situated at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at the highest altitude of any U.S. state capital, with an elevation of 6,998 feet (2,133 m).

Founded in 1610 as the capital of Nuevo México, a province of New Spain, Santa Fe is the oldest state capital in the United States and the earliest European settlement west of the Mississippi River. Its name, Spanish for "Holy Faith", is the shortened form of its original name, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís (Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi). The city prospered as a leading commercial and transportation hub, driven by lucrative trade and migration routes such as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the Santa Fe Trail. Nuevo México became a territory of Mexico after Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. It was ceded to the United States in 1848 following the Mexican–American War, and in 1851 Santa Fe was named the capital of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico; it became New Mexico's state capital in 1912. Santa Fe remained the political and cultural center of New Mexico throughout the Spanish, Mexican, and American periods, which each impacted the city's development and character.

Taos (/taʊs/) is a town in Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico. Situated between the Rio Grande Gorge and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, it is located roughly 50 miles south of the Colorado border. Taos serves as the county seat of Taos County, of which it is the largest municipality, with an estimated population of 6,567 as of 2021.

The town of Taos was incorporated in 1934, although humans have lived in the adjacent Taos Pueblo—a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the town's namesake—for roughly a millennium; the town's name derives from the native Taos language meaning "(place of) red willows". Initially founded by Spanish colonists in 1615 as Don Fernando de Taos, it was only intermittently occupied until the late 18th century, due to recurring conflict between European and indigenous peoples, most notably the Pueblo Revolt.

Eastern New Mexico is a physiographic subregion within the U.S. state of New Mexico. The region is sometimes called the "High Plains", or "Eastern Plains (of New Mexico)", and was historically referred to as part of the "Great American Desert". The region is largely coterminous with the portion of the Llano Estacado in New Mexico. Portions of Eastern New Mexico's elevation extend to over 4,000 ft (1,200 m). The region is characterized by flat, largely featureless terrain with the exception of the Pecos River valley and the abrupt breaks along the Mescalero Ridge and northern caprock escarpments of the Llano Estacado. The region typically lacks the high relief of central and northern New Mexico, such as that in the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia mountain ranges. The climate is semi-arid with hot summers and is characterized by significant wind and dust storms in the springtime.

Like much of the Llano Estacado region, Eastern New Mexico is largely rural and agricultural, and resembles West Texas in geography, economy, and demographics. The population is sparse as compared to the rest of the country. The region includes portions of the counties of Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Lea, Quay, and Roosevelt. It is served by Eastern New Mexico University, a state university located in Portales, and the Blackwater Draw archaeological site is located there.

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.

The Battle of Glorieta Pass was fought March 26–28, 1862, in the northern New Mexico Territory, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. While not the largest battle of the New Mexico campaign, the Battle of Glorieta Pass ended the Confederacy's efforts to capture the territory and other parts of the western United States.

The battle took place at the eponymous mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in what is now Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Confederate forces sought to break the Union's possession of the West along the base of the Rocky Mountains, with the ultimate aim of controlling strategically valuable mines, railroads, and cities throughout the region. The invasion was the westernmost military operation of the war, and the South's only real attempt to conquer and occupy Union territory.

In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap.