Raton Mesa refers both to a mesa near Trinidad, Colorado, and to a chain of volcanic mesas along the Colorado–New Mexico border that extend east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Their basalt-capped tops were left standing as softer surrounding rock eroded, creating flat highlands, steep sides, and deep canyons. In the area commonly called Raton Mesa proper, Fishers Peak Mesa, Bartlett Mesa, and the Barela-Horseshoe-Horse Mesa complex dominate the landscape, with Fishers Peak the highest point. Long known for grasslands, wooded slopes, and abundant wildlife, this largely inaccessible high country gained wider conservation and public access with the 2019 acquisition of part of the Crazy French Ranch for a Colorado state park.