Manzano Mountain Wilderness is a protected backcountry area in Cibola National Forest about fifty miles south-southeast of Albuquerque. Established in 1978 within the National Wilderness Preservation System, it spans 36,875 acres along the rugged Manzano Mountains, where elevations rise from about 6,100 feet to 10,098 feet at Manzano Peak. Its name reflects a local tradition that early Spanish settlers found old apple trees nearby, said to have been planted by missionaries for Pueblo communities in the seventeenth century. The wilderness contains varied plant zones, notable autumn maples, central New Mexico wildlife, scarce water, and an important raptor migration corridor, with trails linking its landscape to the region’s broader human history.