Blue Range Wilderness

Blue Range Wilderness is a protected area in western New Mexico within Gila National Forest, along the state's western border near Arizona and crossed by the Mogollon Rim, a major Southwestern landscape boundary. It joined the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1980 and is associated with the neighboring Aldo Leopold and Gila wilderness areas as part of the Gila region's larger backcountry. Its varied mountain and rim country supports wildlife including black bear, elk, deer, bobcat, cougar, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, spotted owl, osprey, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, wild turkey, collared peccary, white-nosed coati, gray fox, and Mexican wolf. A broader cross-border effort left only the New Mexico portion federally designated as wilderness.

New Mexico · United States