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Sandia Crest

Hiking trails in New MexicoLandforms of Bernalillo County, New MexicoLandforms of Sandoval County, New MexicoMountains of Bernalillo County, New MexicoMountains of Cibola County, New Mexico
Mountains of New MexicoReligious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America
Sandia Crest, Albuquerque PP AB
Sandia Crest, Albuquerque PP AB

Sandia Crest, also known locally as Sandia Peak or simply as the Crest, is a mountain ridge that, at 10,679 feet (3,255 m), is the highpoint of the Sandia–Manzano Mountains, and is located in the Sandia Mountains of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. Instead of a true summit or topographic peak, this range climbs to a long ridge line. To the east, the range slopes down from the Crest and merges into the plains below. On the west side of the Crest is a cliff; the range dramatically drops over 4,000 feet (1,000 metres) in elevation over 2 miles (3 kilometres) of horizontal distance to the Rio Grande Valley and city of Albuquerque below. It is within the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. The Crest features a viewing area with a shop and visitor center, telecommunications transmitters, the popular La Luz Trail, the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, and the summit of Sandia Peak Ski Area and the Sandia Peak Tramway, which is the longest aerial tramway in the Americas.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Sandia Crest (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Sandia Crest
Sandia Crest Lower Parking,

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N 35.210113888889 ° E -106.44865 °
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Sandia Crest Lower Parking

New Mexico, United States
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Sandia Crest, Albuquerque PP AB
Sandia Crest, Albuquerque PP AB
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Sandia–Manzano Mountains
Sandia–Manzano Mountains

The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are a substantial mountain area that defines the eastern edge of the middle Rio Grande valley of central New Mexico. They are not only an attractive backdrop to greater Albuquerque, the largest metropolitan area in New Mexico, but their elevation changes provide recreational opportunities including winter skiing and cool summer hiking or picnicing, as compared to the desert grasslands, foothills, and Rio Grande Valley below. The entire mountain chain comprises three parts, arranged north to south: the Sandia Mountains, the Manzanita Mountains, and the Manzano Mountains. The Manzanita Mountains are a series of low-lying foothills that separate the Sandias from the Manzanos. The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are often considered to be the easternmost major range in the Basin and Range Province. A substantial distance gap of much lower elevation grasslands and savanna exists between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Sandia Mountains, and climate conditions shift between both ranges. This distinction is further made by plant, animal, and insect species that are common in both the Sandia–Manzano Mountains and in other mountainous areas to the south, but diminish quickly in the mountains to the north. These include Quercus turbinella, Opuntia engelmannii, Aloysia wrightii, and the western diamondback rattlesnake. However, at higher elevations in the Sandia–Manzano Mountains, a strong climatically driven Rocky Mountain biotic element exists.