| Sacramento Mountains |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS | |
| mountain ranges of new mexico | |
| lincoln county, new mexico | |
| otero county, new mexico | |
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The Sacramento Mountains are on the east side of Alamogordo in Otero county of southern New Mexico . From north to south, the Sacramento Mountains extend about 70 miles (112 km), and from east to west they are about 35 miles (66 km) wide. The western edge forms a series of dramatic Escarpment s leading up to a ridge along the western edge of the range. This ridge includes the highest point in the range, Cathey Peak at 9645 feet (2968 m). From this ridge the mountains slope gently down to the east, merging gradually with the plains to the west of Artesia . The mountain range is a wide, gently east-dipping fault block and is made up almost entirely of Limestone . Gypsum deposits washed from the range are a main source of the gypsum sand that makes up the dunes in White Sands National Monument . The Sacramento Mountains form the easternmost part of the rift system centered on the Rift Valley of the Rio Grande . The rock strata in the Sacramentos were originally contiguous with those of the San Andres Mountains on the other side of the Tularosa Basin , and have been separated because of down-faulting of the basin. Most of the Sacramento Mountains is part of Lincoln National Forest, though the northern part of the range is included in the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. The mountain range includes the town of Cloudcroft and is contiguous with Sierra Blanca to the north. Unlike the Sacramento Mountains, Sierra Blanca is an extrusive Igneous complex. The range also includes the National Solar Observatory on Sacramento Peak, midway down the western ridge. |
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