Hueco Mountains | |
Photo Alt: | A photo of the Hueco Mountains from the distance |
Country: | United States |
State: | Texas, New Mexico |
Area Mi2: | 2562 |
Length Mi: | 71 |
Length Orientation: | N/S |
Width Mi: | 62 |
Width Orientation: | E/W |
Highest: | Cerro Alto Mountain |
Elevation Ft: | 6703 |
Coordinates: | 31.9453°N -105.97°W |
The Hueco Mountains are a range of mountains that rise in southern Otero County, New Mexico and extend south into Texas, generally along the El Paso–Hudspeth county line just east of the city of El Paso, Texas. The highest point of the range is the Cerro Alto Mountain in Hudspeth County.
The Hueco Bolson, a down-dropped area with an elevation of 4000feet above sea level, with sedimentary fill nearly 9000feet thick, lies between the Hueco and Franklin Mountains. Shallow, stony soils in the Hueco Mountains support oak, juniper, and some mesquite. The mountains were part of the Rocky Mountain trend, forced upward as part of the Laramide mountain-building period during the late Cretaceous, 60 to 70 million years ago.
The word hueco is Spanish for hollow, gap, or hole.[1]