San Mateo Mountains (Socorro County, New Mexico)

:"For other mountain ranges with this name, see San Mateo Mountains."

The San Mateo Mountains are a small mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is West Blue Mountain, at 10,336 ft (3,151 m). The range runs roughly north-south and is about 40 miles (64 km) long. It lies about 25 miles (40 km) north-northwest of the town of Truth or Consequences and about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Socorro. They should not be confused with the identically named range in Cibola and McKinley counties, north of this range.

The San Mateo Mountains are a fault-block range, made of volcanic rock from the Datil-Mogollon Volcanic Field, of age between twenty-eight and twenty-four million years.Butterfield, Mike, and Greene, Peter, "Mike Butterfield's Guide to the Mountains of New Mexico", New Mexico Magazine Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-937206-88-1] They form part of the western edge of the Rio Grande Rift Valley. They also form the eastern border of the Plains of San Agustin, site of the Very Large Array.

Some mining activity, involving gold, silver, and copper, occurred in the southern part of the range near the end of the nineteenth century.

Most of the San Mateo Mountains are within the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. There are two designated wilderness areas in the range, the Apache Kid Wilderness convert|44650|acre|km2|0 and the Withington Wilderness convert|18869|acre|km2|0. Numerous trails and hiking opportunities exist, but the mountains see little use due to their distance from large population centers such as Albuquerque.

Significant summits include: [http://www.listsofjohn.com/NewMexico/NM.php NM peaks on Lists of John] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=33.65917&lon=-107.43611&datum=nad27&u=4&layer=DRG&size=l&s=500 San Mateo Mountains on TopoQuest]