| Animas Valley | |
| Valley | |
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View of Animas, NM looking west-southwest (center-north valley, Chiricahua Mountains massif at right, north-south, Peloncillo Mountains at photo left-(Animas Valley in front, extending left, south and off-photo); the road heading to the upper right of the image is New Mexico State Road 9-(east-west) heading westwards into Antelope Pass in the Peloncillos).
The Animas Valley extends left-(south), out of view, in front of the Peloncillos. The San Simon Valley lies on horizon, in front of the Chiricahuas, extending north-south, across the photo, on the western side of the Peloncillos. |
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| States | New Mexico, Sonora, Chihuahua (state) |
| Region | New Mexico Bootheel ((northwest)-Chihuahuan Desert) |
| County | Hidalgo County, NM |
| Borders on | Continental Divide-E Peloncillo Mountains (Hidalgo County)-W & NW Guadalupe Mountains (Hidalgo County) -(extreme-SW) |
| Cities | Animas, NM–Lordsburg, NM |
| Landmark | Continental Divide of the Americas |
| Lake | Playa, south of Animas, NM |
| River | Animas Creek |
| Coordinates | |
| Lowest point | 1–(dry lake), Animas Creek, south of Animas, NM 2–Chihuahuan Desert, in extreme south |
| - location | Animas Valley |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 85 mi (137 km), N-S |
| Width | 15 mi (24 km), E-W-(variable width) |
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Animas Valley (north region)
in New Mexico |
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The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north-south 85-mi (137 km) long,[1] valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora-Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan Desert, the large desert region of the north-central Mexican Plateau and the Rio Grande valley and river system.
The Continental Divide of the Americas forms the valley's eastern border in a series of mountain ranges. The parallel valley eastwards on the eastern side of the Continental Divide is the slightly shorter, but also long and narrow Playas Valley.
Westwards of the narrow, lengthy and divided Peloncillo Mountains, are the two valleys in Arizona, the San Simon and San Bernardino Valleys, both east of the massif of the Chiricahua Mountains and associated mountain ranges, which anchor the eastern half of Cochise County. Parts of this entire region with its mountain ridgelines, and mountaintops, and associated valleys are part of the sky island region called the Madrean Sky Islands of Arizona–New Mexico, and Sonora–Chihuahua, in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.
The Animas Valley is linear, north-south trending, surrounded by mountain ranges, and is part of the Basin and Range Province of southwest North America. At the southern extremity of the valley straddling the United States and Mexico border lies the Pleistocene aged Lake Cloverdale[2] The extreme north has the Lordsburg Mesa located northwest of Lordsburg, and is on the northern perimeter of the Animas Valley, south of the west-flowing Gila River and the towns of Virden and Red Rock.
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West
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East
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Animas Valley
Cloverdale Ghost Town
