Magdalena RD San Mateo Mountains

The San Mateo Mountains, southwest of Magdalena, parallel the Rio Grande Valley. National forest lands begin on the high benches west of the river and extend up and over the mountains’ crest. West of the crest, the land drops sharply to the high benchlands which drain toward the Plains of San Augustin and the Alamosa River. Elevations range from 5,200 feet along the east edge of the district to 10,336 feet at West Blue Mountain. Lower elevations are covered in grassland-shrub oak type vegetation grading into piñon-juniper. Canyon bottoms are inhabited by riparian species like Arizona walnut, Arizona alder, narrowleaf cottonwood, and hackberry. Middle elevations are predominately ponderosa pine, while the high country is covered in Douglas-fir, spruce, and aspen.