Raton Mesa is the collective name of several

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

s on the eastern side of

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New ...

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, Ke ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. The name Raton Mesa or Mesas has sometimes been applied to all the mesas that extend east for along the Colorado-New Mexico border from

Raton, New Mexico Raton ( ) is a city and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border and 85 miles west of Texas. His ...

and

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

to the Oklahoma panhandle. These include Johnson Mesa, Mesa de Maya, and Black Mesa. The highest point of Raton Mesa, Fishers Peak, is located in

Las Animas County, Colorado Las Animas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,555. The county seat is Trinidad. The county takes its name from the Mexican Spanish name of the Purgatoire River, originally c ...

. The highest part of the mesa () was made a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

in 1967. Raton mesas are volcanic in origin caused by lava flows which solidified into

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

. Over time the softer

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

surrounding the basalt eroded leaving several distinct large elevated tablelands with precipitous sides. Raton Mesa is part of the

Raton Basin Raton or Ratón (Spanish for "mouse") may refer to: Places: * Raton Basin, a geologic structural basin in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico * Raton, New Mexico, the county seat of Colfax County, New Mexico ** Raton Downtown Historic ...

, a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

producing region.

Description

Interstate Highway 25 through Raton Pass, in elevation, separates the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west from the mesa country on the east. For this article, Raton Mesa is defined as the area east of Interstate 25 between

and

, approximately south to north, and extending eastwards about . Within this area are three distinct mesas separated by deep canyons: Fishers Peak Mesa in Colorado, with a maximum elevation of , Bartlett Mesa, mostly in New Mexico, with a maximum elevation of , and Barela/Horseshoe/Horse Mesa, straddling the Colorado/New Mexico state line, with a maximum elevation of . The elevations at the foot of the mesas are or higher. The flat-topped mesas are mostly grassland, but their steep slopes are wooded with

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

the dominant species, joined by

quaking aspen ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain or golden aspen, tr ...

, Douglas fir, and

white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges ...

at higher elevations and pinyon, juniper, and

Gambel oak ''Quercus gambelii'', with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak. ...

at lower elevations. Mammal species include American black bear, cougar,

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

, beaver, and especially elk which are seen in herds of more than 100 individuals. Hunting, especially for elk, is popular in season on both public and private lands. Raton-Map

No public roads reach the top of the mesas. The only public road which penetrates the area is through Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico. It terminates shortly after crossing the border into Colorado at an altitude of . This road provides access to the three publicly owned areas of Raton Mesa: Surgarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico and Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area and James M. John State Wildlife Area in Colorado. From the parking area at Lake Dorothey, the summit of Fisher's Peak is a straight-line distance of about eight miles by an unmarked trail.Google Earth Much of the Colorado portion of the Raton Mesa, including Fisher's Peak, was owned by the Crazy French Ranch until 2019 when the ranch was purchased to become a Colorado state park. Funds to purchase the ranch came jointly from Great Outdoors Colorado, the funding arm of the Colorado Lottery,

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

, and

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

Description

References

Further reading