- Sandia-Manzano Mountains
The Sandia-Manzano Mountains are a substantial
mountain area that defines the eastern edge of the middleRio Grande valley of centralNew Mexico . They are not only an attractive backdrop to greaterAlbuquerque , the largest metropolitan area in the Land of Enchantment, but their elevation changes provide recreational opportunities including winterskiing and cool summerhiking orpicnic ing, as compared to thedesert grassland s,foothills , andvalley below. The entire mountain chain comprises two parts, theSandia Mountains to the north, and theManzano Mountains to the south, separated byTijeras Canyon , through which runsInterstate 40 , following the path of historicU.S. Route 66 . The Sandia-Manzano Mountains are often considered to be the northernmost major range in the Mexican Highlands geographic provinceJerry L. Williams, "New Mexico in Maps", University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1986] . This differentiates them from theRocky Mountains , often considered to end just east of Santa Fe, at the southern tip of theSangre de Cristo Mountains . A substantial distance gap of much lower elevation grasslands andsavanna exists between the Sangre de Cristos and the Sandia Mountains, and climate conditions shift between both ranges. This distinction is further made byplant ,animal , andinsect species that are common in both the Sandia-Manzano Mountains and in other mountainous areas to the south, but diminish quickly in the mountains to the north. These include "Quercus turbinella ", "Opuntia engelmannii ", "Aloysia wrightii ", and the western diamondback rattlesnake. However, at higher elevations in the Sandia-Manzano Mountains, a strong climatically driven Rocky Mountain biotic element exists.ee also
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Sandia Mountains
*Manzano Mountains References
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