2010 Map of Colorado Canyon

About this map

Lake Sumner anchors the southwestern corner of this landscape, its fluctuating shoreline defining the transition between the reservoir and the surrounding high plains. In this arid reach of De Baca County, the terrain is carved by the Colorado Canyon and fed by the winding course of Alamogordo Creek, which meanders from the northwest toward the water. The map reflects a ranching-based economy, showing isolated outposts like the McRee Ranch and Head Ranch connected by a sparse network of county roads and backroutes. These ranch sites represent the enduring land-use patterns of the New Mexico plains, where wide-open grazing land is punctuated only by established homesteads and drainage ways. A system of designated routes including County Rd-3-31 and County Rd-3-24 provides the primary infrastructure for traversing this remote section of the Colorado Canyon quadrangle.