Southwestern New Mexico is an area of rugged mountains, deep canyons, and rivers. It is well-known for an unusual diversity of natural features and abundant wildlife. The Gila National Forest encompasses approximately 3.3 million acres of this land, and nearly a quarter of it is designated wilderness area. Elevations range from 4,000 feet at the cottonwood/willow bosques along the lower Gila River to nearly 11,000 feet at the summitof Whitewater Baldy in the nearby Mogollon Mountains. Bewteen river floodplains and the peaks lie desert grasslands, vast woodlands of pinon and juniper, ponderosa groves, and high forests of mixed-conifer.

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This Diverse landscape is occupied by a multitude of bird and other animal species, some of which do not occur elsewhere in New Mexico.

Here Prehistoric Mimbres culture flourished and then vanished 900 years ago, leaving numerous ruins and a remarkable legacy of pottery that is famous today for the beauty of its natural and
mythological images.

For More information:
Call the Silver City-Grant County
Chamber of Commerce
1-800-548-9378