The Sierra Fría is a mountain range in central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It forms the northwestern border of

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and ...

state and extends into adjacent Zacatecas, west of the city of

Geography

The Sierra Fría is the southeasternmost range of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

. The highest peak is Cerro de la Ardilla (3050 m)."Sierra Fría, Aguascalientes". turimexico.com. Accessed 6 September 2021

/ref> The Sierra extends north and south, and divides the upper basins of the

Juchipila River The Juchipila River is a river of Mexico. It is a tributary of the Río Grande de Santiago. See also *List of rivers of Mexico This is a list of rivers of Mexico, listed from north to south. There are 246 rivers on this list. Alternate names for ...

to the west from the Río Verde to the east. The municipalities of San José de Gracia,

Calvillo Calvillo () is a city in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes. The town serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Calvillo. Calvillo is the second most populated city in the state, surpassed in importance only by the capital ...

, Rincón de Romos, Jesús María and

Pabellón de Arteaga Pabellón de Arteaga is a city in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes. It stands at in the central part of the state. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Pabellón de Arteaga. As of 2010, the city had a total population o ...

extend across the range.

Flora and fauna

Higher elevations of the range are covered in pine–oak woodland, with pines and/or oaks as the dominant trees, with manzanillo ('' Arbutus'' spp.) and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

. Areas that have been logged are covered in thickets of manzanillo, and montane grasslands occur on canyon slopes.

Matorral 300px, Springtime in Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomillares'', for shrubland, thicket or bushes. It is used in naming and describin ...

(dry shrubland) surrounds the Sierra at lower elevations.Wilson, Larry David, and James R. McCranie. (1979) “Notes on the Herpetofauna of Two Mountain Ranges in México (Sierra Fría, Aguascalientes, and Sierra Morones, Zacatecas).” ''Journal of Herpetology'', vol. 13, no. 3, 1979, pp. 271–278. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1563318. Accessed 6 Sept. 2021. The area is rich in wildlife. Native mammals include

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus''),

puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

(''Puma concolor''), collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu''),

ringtail The ringtail (''Bassariscus astutus'') is a mammal of the raccoon family native to arid regions of North America. It is widely distributed and well adapted to disturbed areas. It has been legally trapped for its fur. It is listed as Least Co ...

(''Bassariscus astutus''), and gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''). 109 species of birds have been recorded in the range, of which 67% are year-round residents and 33% are winter visitors. These include the

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'')

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

(''Falco peregrinus'') Harris's hawk (''Parabuteo unicinctus''),

Mexican spotted owl The spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis'') is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between high and ...

(''Strix occidentalis lucida''), great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''),

eared quetzal The eared quetzal (''Euptilotis neoxenus''), also known as the eared trogon, is a near passerine bird in the trogon family, Trogonidae. It is native to streamside pine-oak forests and canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico south to we ...

(''Euptilotis neoxenus''), Montezuma quail (''Cyrtonyx montezumae''),

lesser scaup The lesser scaup (''Aythya affinis'') is a small North American diving duck that migrates south as far as Central America in winter. It is colloquially known as the little bluebill or broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill. The origin of ...

(''Aythya affinis''), and

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

(''Anas acuta''). The Sierra is designated and

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

.BirdLife International (2021). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Sierra Fría. Accessed 6 September 2021

/ref>

Conservation and tourism

Much of the range is in protected areas, including the

Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit The Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit is a protected natural areas of Mexico, protected natural area in west-central Mexico. It extends across portions of southern Sierra Madre Occidental and the westernmost ...

and Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 01 Pabellón. Camping, hiking, nature walks, horseback riding, and mountain biking are permitted, and hunting and sport fishing are permitted with prior permission.

References

{{commons cat, Sierra Fría Sierra Madre Occidental Geography of Aguascalientes Geography of Zacatecas Important Bird Areas of Mexico