A Diverse Land

I will now "move" north up New Mexico's western border and talk about McKinley County. McKinley is the poorest county in New Mexico and one of the poorest in the United States. The county seat, Gallup, is the most demographically and culturally diverse city in New Mexico.
  McKinley County is also diverse in terms of landscape. It ranges from aspen forest to spruce forest to ponderosa pine forest to juniper woodland to grassland to desert. It is also known for its stunning, red rock formations. This red rock country spills over from the more famous red rock country of southern Utah and northern Arizona. This is the eastern edge of that stunning, eroded, volcanic, red landscape. Most of the county consists of broad, desert to semi-desert valleys with a backdrop of eroded buttes and mesas. The semi-desert valleys are sprinkled with pinon and juniper trees and have a little bit more grass than the desert areas.
  The average elevation of McKinley County  is about 6,200 feet. The highest points in the county are all clustered near each other in the southeast corner of the county in the San Mateo Mountains. they are:
Cerro de Alejandro (8,989 feet), Cerro Redondo (8,976 feet) and Cerro Chivato(8,917 feet). While these are the highest points in the county, they are really mesas [flat-topped hills] and not really mountains, per se.
The "real" mountains in the county are the Zuni Mountains in southern part of McKinley County. Most of this range is in neighboring Cibola County. The Zuni Mountains are part of Cibola National Forest and are the most heavily forested part of McKinley County.