Cerro Grande
Cerro Grande rises to 3,098 m in New Mexico. Turkey Ridge stands 3,558 m to the north-northwest, 8.5 miles off. The nearest named place is Pajarito Mountain, a peak 1.4 miles away. Jemez Mountain Trail passes 1.2 miles off.
The story
Cerro Grande is a 10,207-foot (3,111 m) summit on the rim of the Valles Caldera not far north of New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County. Like many mountains in the Jemez, Cerro Grande was mainly covered with coniferous forest, composed largely of ponderosa pine and aspen trees, with a characteristic rincon (meadow) on its slopes on and south of the summit. In May 2000, a prescribed burn on Cerro Grande got out of control and became the Cerro Grande Fire, a forest fire that burned 48,000 acres (190 km²) and destroyed hundreds of homes. Much of the forest on Cerro Grande itself was not damaged badly or at all. However, the whole mountain burned severely in the Las Conchas Fire of 2011. The summit can be reached by a short hike [2.3 miles (3.7 km) each way, with an elevation change of 1,200 feet (370 m)] from a trailhead along State Road 4. From the summit, one can see into Valle Grande to the west and into upper Frijoles Canyon to the south.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q5064925, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 3098 m
How to reach it
- 1.2 mi off the Jemez Mountain Trail, National
- 12.3 mi off the Puye Cliffs Scenic Byway
- 26.5 mi off the Historic Route 66, National
- 19.8 mi off the El Camino Real, National
Overlooks nearby
- Frijoles Canyon Viewpoint · 2 mi
- San Diego Canyon Overlook Overlook Site · 12 mi
- Jemez Canyon Overlook · 12 mi
- Cross of the Martyrs Hill · 30 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Pajarito Mountain: 1.4 mi
- Scooter Peak: 2.1 mi
- Cerro del Medio: 3.2 mi
- Sawyer Mesa: 3.4 mi
- Valles Caldera supervolcano: 3.4 mi
- Golondrina: 6.0 mi
- Corky: 6.2 mi
- Multiverse 2020: 6.2 mi
- Touch the Sky: 6.2 mi
- Tranquility: 6.2 mi
- Kiva: 5.3 mi
- Valles Caldera National Preserve: 6.3 mi
- Pine Street Playlot: 6.8 mi
- Los Pueblos Park: 8.2 mi
- Main Gate Park: 8.9 mi
- VALLE GRANDE HISTORIC MARKER: 2.7 mi
- John F Kennedy Memorial: 5.3 mi
- Los Alamos High School Memorial Garden: 5.5 mi
- Pierotti's Clowns: 6.1 mi
- Los Alamos Education Group Monument: 6.2 mi
- Alcove: 7.0 mi
- The Narrows: 7.2 mi
- Exchange Hotel Complex Historic Site: 8.3 mi
- Amphitheater: 8.9 mi
- Alcove House: 9.1 mi
- Armstead Spring: 2.3 mi
- American Spring: 2.8 mi
- Alamo Spring: 3.3 mi
- Apache Spring: 3.3 mi
- Pine Spring: 9.3 mi
- Camp May: 2.1 mi
- Ponderosa Picnic Area: 4.1 mi
- Las Conchas Picnic Ground: 7.3 mi
- Ampitheater Picnic Area: 8.9 mi
- Cottonwood Picnic Area: 10.0 mi
- Los Alamos History Museum: 6.3 mi
- Hans Bethe House: 6.3 mi
- San Ildefonso Pueblo Museum: 16.6 mi
- Bond House Museum: 20.3 mi
- Poeh Cultural Center: 22.5 mi
- Bear Jump: 12.5 mi
- Water Canyon pour-off: 13.0 mi
- La Cuchilla de la Monjonera: 14.3 mi
- Cerro Valdez: 17.9 mi
- Gates of Hell: 20.1 mi
- Upper Frijoles Falls: 11.3 mi
- Lower Frijoles Falls: 11.5 mi
- Jemez Falls: 11.6 mi
- Memorial Rose Garden: 6.3 mi
- White Rock Community Garden: 11.7 mi
- Spence Hot Spring: 12.2 mi
- San Antonio Hot Spring: 13.8 mi
- State Game Commission Land: 16.8 mi
- New Mexico Wildlife Center: 22.6 mi
- Rendija Arch: 5.3 mi
- Buckman: 14.2 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 12.1 miles of Cerro Grande. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey Ridge | NNW 345° | 3,558 m | 8.5 mi |
| Chicoma Mountain | N 10° | 3,517 m | 9.7 mi |
| Redondo Peak | W 271° | 3,434 m | 8.3 mi |
| Cerro Toledo | N 351° | 3,323 m | 8.7 mi |
| South Mountain | WSW 252° | 3,265 m | 7.0 mi |
| Cerro de la Garita | NW 324° | 3,225 m | 11.1 mi |
| Caballo Mountain | NNE 25° | 3,200 m | 6.4 mi |
| Pajarito Mountain | NNE 28° | 3,176 m | 1.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:10 | 18:44 | 19:18 |
| June solstice | 05:50 | 19:48 | 20:26 |
| September equinox | 06:54 | 18:30 | 19:04 |
| December solstice | 07:13 | 16:17 | 16:56 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 30 | 34 | 42 | 48 | 57 | 67 | 70 | 67 | 62 | 51 | 39 | 31 |
| Precip in | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — LOS Alamos, 5 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 918140 — Cerro Grande, Sandoval County, New Mexico.
OpenStreetMap element node/357606006
Day trips start here
- Bandelier National Monument · 8 mi
- Española · 22 mi
- Pojoaque · 22 mi
- Chimayó · 29 mi
- Santa Fe · 29 mi
Take the scenic way to Cerro Grande.
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