The Black Range (also called the Devil's Mountains or Sierra Diablo ) is an igneous mountain range running north–south in Sierra , Grant , and Catron counties in southwest New Mexico , in the Southwestern United States .
7-502: The range's central ridge forms the western and eastern borders, respectively, of the two counties through much of their contact. The range is about 55 miles (88 km) long from north to south and up to 18 miles (29 km) wide. The highest point is McKnight Mountain . The Black Range lies almost entirely within the Gila National Forest . The Mimbres River originates from the mountain snowpack . The Mimbres Mountains,
14-558: The Gila National Forest . The mountain is topped by a flat ridge running roughly north–south for about one-half mile; the north and south ends of the ridge are both listed at 10,165 feet. The mountain is forested up to near its summit, which is rocky and provides panoramic views. Its west slopes are the headwaters of the East Fork of the Mimbres River , which flows through McKnight Canyon, and its northwest slopes also feed into
21-662: The Black Range through the end of the 19th century. [REDACTED] Media related to Black Range (New Mexico) at Wikimedia Commons McKnight Mountain McKnight Mountain is the highest peak in the Black Range of southwestern New Mexico , in the southwestern United States. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Silver City , in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness of
28-618: The Black Range, which are also known as the Mimbres Mountains, was occupied by the Mimbres people whose culture peaked about 1000 C.E. and ended about 1150 C.E. Their most famous site is the Gila Cliff Dwellings . Silver was discovered in the Black Range in the late 1870s, first in 1876 at Lake Valley , and then by Harry Pye in 1879 at Chloride . This led to a silver rush , and silver and gold mines flourished in
35-584: The Mimbres. The east side is drained by Las Animas Creek, which flows into the Rio Grande at Caballo Lake . While the Continental Divide runs along much of the Black Range, McKnight Mountain is not on the divide itself, which separates from the crest of the Black Range at Red Peak a few miles to the north. McKnight Mountain is accessible via several trails. One is Trail 79, which runs along
42-436: The central ridge. There are also a number of campgrounds, some with hiking trails, along NM 152 as it goes down Iron Canyon on the west side of the range. With the exception of the areas along NM 152, most of the range is very difficult to traverse and almost entirely undeveloped. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness , 202,016 acres (81,753 ha) in size, lies along the crest of the Black Range north of NM 152. The southern portion of
49-409: The southernmost part of the range, are usually included as part of the Black Range. Access to the range is primarily via New Mexico State Road 152 (NM 152), which crosses the Black Range on its way from Kingston on the east towards San Lorenzo on the west. NM 152 crosses the range at 8,228-foot (2,508 m) Emory Pass, where there is a hiking trail that covers the entire length of the mountains along
#648351