The Pyramid Mountains are a 30 mi (48 km) long,
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in central-east
Hidalgo County,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. The city of
Lordsburg
Lordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. Hidalgo County includes the southern "bootheel" of New Mexico, along the Arizona border. The population was 2,797 at the 2010 census, down from 3,379 in 20 ...
and
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
lie at its northern border.
The range lies between the northeast corner of the north-south
Animas Valley
The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north–south long, valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora- Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan De ...
on the west and the
Playas and
Lordsburg
Lordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. Hidalgo County includes the southern "bootheel" of New Mexico, along the Arizona border. The population was 2,797 at the 2010 census, down from 3,379 in 20 ...
valleys to the southeast and northeast respectively. The
continental divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
passes through the southern end of the range.
The
Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower P ...
has its northwest extension into the foothills regions of the Pyramid Mountains.
Description
The Pyramid Mountains are a moderate altitude, north-south trending mountain range at the north of two valleys that also are north-south, and extensive, as the Continental Divide traverses due south through the ridgeline to enter northwest Chihuahua state, Mexico. The
Animas Valley
The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north–south long, valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora- Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan De ...
lies west; the
Playas Valley
The Playas Valley is a lengthy and narrow 60-mi (97-km) long, valley located in Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Chihuahua. Playas, NM is located in the northeast. The valley is notewort ...
lies east of this mountain-series ridgeline.
The Pyramid Mountains are about 30 mi long, and about 12 mi at its widest. Various peaks and hills form the range as the
water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...
of the continental divide forms its southeast and south. But the water divide of the Animas Valley continues north 20 mi and then crosses to the north side of Lordsburg.
Various semi-arid canyons, draws, and washes also are found in this linear range.
List of peaks and hills
The range consists of a north and south portions separated by a lower elevation pass () between Jose Placencia Canyon on the west and Muir Draw on the east.
[''Lordsburg, New Mexico,'' 30x60 Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1981]
North:
[
* Pyramid Peak, (highpoint)]
*Fourmile Hill,
*Leitendorf Hills
*Swallow Fork Peak, (west)
*Cedar Mountain, (east)
South:[
*Cedar Knob, (east)
*Lightning Dock Mountain, (west)
*Russel Hills (east)
*Kink Peak, (west)
*South Pyramid Peak, (continental divide)
*Pinkey Wright Mountain, (continental divide)
]
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
starts to leave the forested mountain regions as it goes southwest from Silver City. It passes from the southern Little Burro Mountains
The Little Burro Mountains are a short long mountain range located in Grant County, New Mexico. The range lies adjacent to the southeast border of the larger Big Burro Mountains. The Little Burro Mountains are located 8 mi southwest of Silve ...
, crosses the Big Burro's, then on a circuitous route after skirting the northeast of the Cedar Mountain Range
The Cedar Mountain Range is a short 20 mi (32 km) long, mountain range in southwest Luna County, New Mexico, USA, just north of the Mexico–United States border with Chihuahua.
The range lies in the northwest Chihuahuan Desert and the ...
, it passes across the water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...
of the north Playas Valley
The Playas Valley is a lengthy and narrow 60-mi (97-km) long, valley located in Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Chihuahua. Playas, NM is located in the northeast. The valley is notewort ...
, west of Hachita. It finally enters a series of north-south ranges, including the Animas Mountains
The Animas Mountains are a small mountain range in Hidalgo County, within the " Boot-Heel" region of far southwestern New Mexico, in the United States. They extend north–south for about 30 miles (50 km) along the Continental Divide,Since ...
, and traverses south into northwest Chihuahua, Mexico.
It turns from due-west to due-south at South Pyramid Peak, at the southern perimeter region of the Pyramid Mountains. Pinkey Wright Mountain lies 3 mi south on the divide.
References
{{Mountains of New Mexico
Great Divide of North America
Mountain ranges of Hidalgo County, New Mexico
Mountain ranges of New Mexico