The foothills and higher peaks to the north are part of the Southern Rocky Mountains, which extend from southern Wyoming through Colorado and New Mexico. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Spanish for "Blood of Christ," trend from Salida, Colorado, in the north to Santa Fe in the south. New Mexico's highest peak is Wheeler Peak northeast of Taos at 13,167 feet in elevation. The Galisteo Basin is a lowland of 730 square miles that has been continuously occupied since the Archaic period. It is bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the north, Glorieta Mesa on the east, the San Pedro Mountains on the south, and La Bajada escarpment and the Rio Grande on the west. Because of its location between mountain ranges, the basin serves as an important transportation route between the Rio Grande Valley and Great Plains.