The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

. It was established in 1915 and covers . Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 feet (4000 m) at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. The Jemez, Coyote, and Cuba districts are located in the

Jemez Mountains The Jemez Mountains (, Tewa: ''Tsąmpiye'ip'įn'', Navajo: ''Dził Łizhinii'') are a group of mountains in Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico, United States. Numerous Puebloan Indian tribes have lived in the Jemez Moun ...

; the Pecos/Las Vegas district is located in the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

; and the Española district is located in both mountain ranges. In descending order of land area the forest lies in parts of Rio Arriba, San Miguel,

Sandoval Sandoval is a habitational surname of Spanish language, Spanish origin. It primarily originates from Sandoval de la Reina, Spain, earlier called ''Sannoval'', which is a blend word of Latin ''saltus'' (meaning 'grove' or 'wood') and Latin ''novalis ...

, Santa Fe, Mora, and Los Alamos counties. Forest headquarters are located in the city of Santa Fe. Santa Fe National Forest was established on July 1, 1915 by the U.S. Forest Service with the amalgamation of Jemez National Forest to the west of Santa Fe and Pecos National Forest to the east. The former division is remembered in the ranger districts, with the Jemez Ranger District to the west and the Pecos/Las Vegas district to the east. The western district is adjacent to the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is administered by the National Park Service. Bandelier National Monument was created from a portion of Santa Fe in 1916, but additional land was added to Bandelier from land that was formerly part of Los Alamos National Laboratory and from land that was owned by the Dunnigans when they owned the Baca Ranch.

Districts

Coyote Ranger District

The Coyote Ranger District is the northernmost district of the Santa Fe National Forest and covers 265,100 acres (1073 km²). It includes the Rio Chama and most of the Chama River Canyon Wilderness (with a small part extending into neighboring

Carson National Forest Carson National Forest is a United States National Forest, national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Serv ...

), as well as the northern portion of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. The district office is in the town of

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

Cuba Ranger District

The Cuba Ranger District is in the westernmost district of the Santa Fe National Forest and is home to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. The district includes the southern portion of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. Its district office is in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Española Ranger District

The Española Ranger District extends from the foothills of

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

to the Pecos Wilderness and borders the towns of Española, New Mexico and

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Poplars'') is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as one of the development and creation places of the Nuclear weapon, atomic bomb—the primary objective of ...

. Santa Fe National Forest near Los Alamos is the location of an

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

map.

Jemez Ranger District

The Jemez Ranger District was established in 1905 as the ''Jemez Forest Reserve''. A number of hot springs and the Jemez Soda Dam on the Jemez River are among the attractions, along with the Dome Wilderness, which lies just west of Bandelier National Monument. The district office is in Jemez Springs.

Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District

The Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District was established in 1892 as the ''Pecos River Forest Reserve''. The easternmost element of Santa Fe National Forest includes the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

lying within the Pecos Wilderness, which also extends into neighboring

. Its offices are in Pecos and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

References

External links

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Santa Fe National Forest
{{Authority control National forests of New Mexico Protected areas of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Protected areas of Sandoval County, New Mexico Protected areas of Santa Fe County, New Mexico Protected areas of Mora County, New Mexico Protected areas of Los Alamos County, New Mexico Protected areas of San Miguel County, New Mexico Jemez Mountains Sangre de Cristo Mountains Protected areas established in 1915 1915 establishments in New Mexico