New Mexico's Sandia Crest‐Cibola National Forest "The Sandia Mountains are a small range east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The mountains do not have a summit. Instead, the high point is a long ridge called the Sandia Crest. At 10,678 feet in elevation, the vegetation here is vastly different than in Albuquerque that lies about 4,500 feet below. Access to the Sandia Crest is easy and this is a popular tourist destination." "Sandia Crest Byway is the highest scenic drive in the southwest, following NM 536 for nearly 14 miles up to Sandia Crest, which stands a mile above the surrounding countryside and two miles above sea level. The craggy, asperous western face of the Sandia Mountains contrasts the forested eastern slopes that you'll follow up to Sandia Crest." Sandia Crest is also well known for its spectacular sunsets. Cibola National Forest has had over 12,000 years of habitation by Native Americans. The Cibola National Forest is in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, part of the Southwestern Region. Established during the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was wisely done to protect our natural resources including watersheds, trees, wildflowers and soils. The size of Cibola makes up 1,624,542 acres and its elevation ranges from 5,000 to 11,301 feet. Cibola includes the Datil, Galina, Magdalena, Bear, Manzano, Sandia, San Mateo, Mt. Taylor and Zuni Mountains. Cibola has both wilderness and grasslands areas within the national forest system. In New Mexico their State Parks do not have forest administered cabins or lodges. There are strict rules and limits in terms of use. Day‐use includes fishing, hunting, hiking trails and picnicking. Cibola is pronounced 'see‐bo‐lah' and comes from the Zuni Indian name for their group of pueblos or tribal lands. The Spaniards interpreted the word to mean 'buffalo.' This photo program takes you to the Sandia Crest 37 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Panoramic scenes of the area, but sorry no sunset.

Sources: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/southwestern/SandiaCrest/index.shtml, https://www.go‐newmexico.com/Sandia‐Crest‐Byway/, https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new‐mexico/sandia‐crest‐sunset‐new‐mexico/, https://www.nationalforests.org/our‐forests/find‐a‐forest/cibola‐ national‐forest, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/cibola/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cibola_National_Forest, https://www.trails.com/us/nm/cibola‐ national‐forest and http://www.stateparks.com/cibola_socorro.html. acuri.net John R. Vincenti New Mexico's Sandia Crest‐Cibola National Forest