Introduction
The State of New Mexico, largely referred to by the nickname “Land of Enchantment,” is a southwestern state located within the United States of America. While the largest city is the City of Albuquerque in Bernalillo County, the state capital city is the City of Santa Fe (from “La Villa Real de Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís” [The Royal Village of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi]). Today, the vast majority of the State of New Mexico is associated with the modern Interstate 25 corridor, particularly within the areas around Albuquerque and Santa Fe in the north and Las Cruces, county seat of Doña Ana County, in the south. However, the State of New Mexico is also traversed by Interstates 10 in the south and 40 in the north, both in an east-west direction.
Native American Reservations
Within the modern State of New Mexico, the northwest corner of the State is associated with the Navajo Nation along with surrounding portions of the States of Arizona and Utah, with the Navajo Off-Reservation Trust Land typically referred to as the “Checkerboard Area” further east. The entire state is located south of latitude 37° North, with the Four Corners Monument located at the intersection of as many as four (4) distinct states at once–New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. On the New Mexican side of the area is San Juan County, a county sharing the same name as the county on the Utah quadrant of the Four Corners. To the east of the Navajo Nation, much of the State of New Mexico is notable for the significance of Indigenous reservations in locales such as Taos Pueblo and surrounding pueblos in the northern portions of the State nearer the Rocky Mountains and the Mescalero Reservation further south. The Zuni reservation is also located nearby, across the City of Gallup from the Navajo Nation further north and associated with portions of McKinley and Cibola Counties.
National Forests
The chief national forests of the State of New Mexico are the Gila, Santa Fe, Cibola, and Lincoln National Forests. While the Santa Fe National Forest is associated with the Rocky Mountains in the northern part of the State, the Gila National Forest is toward the southwest, and the Lincoln National Forest is associated with the Alamogordo area in Otero County and surrounding counties, particularly to the north. Also of interest in the Rocky Mountains are the Carson National Forest to the north of the Santa Fe and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
Rocky Mountains
Outside the areas representative of the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests in the State of New Mexico, perhaps the most notable communities within the Rocky Mountain portion of the State include the communities of Taos, Angel Fire, and Raton in Taos and Colfax Counties near the Colorado state line to the north. Further east, the Rocky Mountains give way to the High Plains region of the Great Plains, as is obvious with the eastern side of Colfax County and into Union County. Further west, the Rocky Mountains are associated with the Apache and Navajo tribes of Native Americans, with reservations largely covering portoins of San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties within the Rocky Mountains. Within the mixed portions of San Juan County are communities such as Farmington, Shiprock, and Aztec, while within Rio Arriba County, communities such as Chama and Tierra Amarilla are of significance to a much smaller extent, with the former home to the Iron Rail Inn.
Central New Mexico
The vast majority of the population of the State of New Mexico is associated with communities such as Albuquerque (Bernalillo County), Santa Fe (Santa Fe County), and Las Vegas NM (San Miguel County). Additional counties in the vicinity include Sandoval (county seat Bernalillo), Los Alamos, Valencia, and Torrance.
Great Plains
The eastern side of the State of New Mexico is located predominantly in the Llano Estacado section of the Great Plains, extending east into much of the region now known as the Texas Panhandle. New Mexican counties associated with the Great Plains include portions of Colfax, Union, Mora, Harding, Quay, Guadalupe, De Baca, Roosevelt, Curry, Chaves, Lea, and Eddy.
Chihuahuan Desert
Within the southern portion of the State of New Mexico is much of the Chihuahuan Desert, especially between the Arizona state line and portions of Doña Ana County near Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas. Today, the most commonly associated counties in the State of New Mexico involving portions of the Chihuahuan Desert include Catron, Socorro, Lincoln, Grant, Sierra, Doña Ana, Otero, Hidalgo, and Luna.
