Eastern New Mexico is a physiographic subregion within the U.S. state of New Mexico. The region is sometimes called the "High Plains," or "Eastern Plains ," and was historically referred to as part of the "Great American Desert". The region is largely coterminous with the portion of the Llano Estacado in New Mexico. Portions of Eastern New Mexico's elevation extend to over 4,000 ft (1,200 m). The region is characterized by flat, largely featureless terrain with the exception of the Pecos River valley and the abrupt breaks along the Mescalero Ridge and northern caprock escarpments of the Llano Estacado. The region typically lacks the high relief of central and northern New Mexico, such as that in the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia mountain ranges. The climate is semi-arid with hot summers and is characterized by significant wind and dust storms in the springtime.
Windmill north of Bellview, New Mexico
Shaded relief image of the Llano Estacado including the portion in Eastern New Mexico
West of Hobbs, Lea County, New Mexico.
Gate leading to fenced pastureland in the wide open spaces south of Kenna, Roosevelt County, New Mexico.
New Mexico is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also borders Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S., founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain.
Statue of Popé, leader of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The statue, entitled Po'pay, is among two statues depicting New Mexicans at the United States Capitol National Statuary Hall Collection, the other being Dennis Chávez.
"The indigenous people of northern New Mexico" by Balduin Möllhausen, 1861
A Hispano boy in Chamisal, 1940
A homesteader and his children at the New Mexico Fair in Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940