The Organ Mountains, looking east.

The Organ Mountains are a rugged mountain range to the east of the city of Las Cruces, in Doña Ana County in southern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Las Cruces is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. ... Doña Ana County is a county located in the state of New Mexico. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ...

The Organ Mountains are near the southern end of a long line of mountains on the east side of the Rio Grande's rift valley. The range is nearly contiguous with the San Andres Mountains to the north and the Franklin Mountains to the south, but is very different geologically. Whereas the San Andres and Franklin Mountains are both formed from west-dipping fault blocks of mostly sedimentary strata (with limestone most prominent), the Organ Mountains are volcanic in origin. Their name reflects their similarity in appearance with pipes that would be part of a pipe organ. The pipes (also referred to as needles) are the remnants of volcanic vents that have been exposed as a result of weathering. Río Bravo redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Rift (geology). ... The San Andres Mountains is a mountain range in the state of New Mexico of the United States, in the counties of Socorro, Sierra, and Doña Ana. ... Elephant-shaped bluff west of South Franklin peak, looking south on Transmountain Road, El Paso, Texas The Franklin Mountains of Texas are a small range (23 miles long, 3 miles wide) that extend from El Paso, Texas north into New Mexico. ... Fault-block mountains are produced when normal (near vertical) faults fracture a section of continental crust. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany // The pipe organ (Greek ὄργανον, órganon) is a musical instrument that produces sound by admitting pressurized air through a series of pipes. ... This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks, soils and their minerals through direct contact with the atmosphere. ...

The San Andres Mountains are separated from the Organ Mountains by the San Agustin Pass, through which U.S. Route 70 passes on its way to White Sands Missile Range, White Sands National Monument and Alamogordo. The Franklin Mountains are separated from the Organ Mountains by a 10-mile wide gap, most of which is part of Fort Bliss. The San Andres Mountains is a mountain range in the state of New Mexico of the United States, in the counties of Socorro, Sierra, and Doña Ana. ... U.S. Route 70 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 2,385 miles (3,838 km) from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. ... White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is located in Otero County, New Mexico, mostly in the Tularosa Basin, a valley between the Organ Mountains, San Andres Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains of the U.S. state of New Mexico, it includes the northern... White Sands National Monument is well-known for its fields of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. ... Alamogordo is a city in Otero County, New Mexico, United States of America. ... Elephant-shaped bluff west of South Franklin peak, looking south on Transmountain Road, El Paso, Texas The Franklin Mountains of Texas are a small range (23 miles long, 3 miles wide) that extend from El Paso, Texas north into New Mexico. ... Fort Bliss is a census-designated place and US Army post located in El Paso County, Texas. ...

Geology

View from the top of Organ Needle, looking west towards the city of Las Cruces, NM.

The Organ Mountains are made up of three major sections. On the north end is a narrow ridge of vertically-jointed granite (more specifically, quartz monzonite) called The Needles. This is the most picturesque section and includes the tallest point in the range, Organ Needle at an elevation of 8,990 feet (2,740 m). On the south side of The Needles is a much wider section of extrusive igneous rock, mostly a purplish-gray rhyolite. This section forms the bulk of the mountain range and reaches heights nearly as great as The Needles. This section is cut in half by Soledad Canyon, which extends west from the east side of the range, separated by a low ridge from Bar Canyon on the west side. The third portion of the Organ Mountains consists of the Bishop's Cap Hills on the southwest side of the range and Rattlesnake Ridge on the southeast side of the range. This third section is much smaller and lower in elevation than the other sections of the range, and consists of fault-block limestone similar to that of the San Andres and Franklin Mountains. Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_1793. ... Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_1793. ... Organ Needle is the highest point of the Organ Mountains in the south-central part of the US state of New Mexico. ... Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ... Quartz monzonite is a felsic igneous rock that has an approximately equal proportion of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars. ... Organ Needle is the highest point of the Organ Mountains in the south-central part of the US state of New Mexico. ... Volcanic rock on North America Plutonic rock on North America Igneous rocks are formed when rock (magma) cools and solidifies, with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. ... Rhyolite This page is about a volcanic rock. ...

Hiking: Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area

View of Organ Needle, the highest of the Organ Mountains at 8,990 feet (2,740 m).

Hiking in The Needles is usually done from the Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area, where visitors can hike from 5,600 feet up to 6,880 feet on the 4.5-mile Pine Tree Trail loop. This trail covers a wide ecological range, from lower-elevation mountain mahogany scrub to ponderosa pine woodland on its upper parts. Hiking in the central extrusive igneous portion of the range is usually done from Dripping Springs or Bar Canyon. Dripping Springs offers several interconnected trails along lower-elevation washes and the lower parts of steep, rugged canyons. Bar Canyon has a single loop trail, in a wide, low-elevation canyon. The southern limestone section is difficult to access and rarely visited. Bishop's Cap can be reached through rugged dirt roads, whereas Rattlesnake Ridge is entirely within Fort Bliss and inaccessible to the general public. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1296x972, 388 KB) Summary View of Organ Needle looking from the west, taken Apr. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1296x972, 388 KB) Summary View of Organ Needle looking from the west, taken Apr. ... Organ Needle is the highest point of the Organ Mountains in the south-central part of the US state of New Mexico. ...

Botany

The Organ Mountains may be the most botanically diverse mountain range in New Mexico, with approximately 870 vascular plant species. Several of these, including the Organ Mountains evening-primrose (Oenothera organensis) and smooth figwort (Scrophularia laevis), are endemic to the mountain range and occur only in small, scattered populations. The Organ Mountains also have surprisingly high diversity in ferns, with 30 of the 56 species reported for New Mexico occurring within it. The high diversity and endemism of the range makes the Organ Mountains a very rewarding destination for the botanically-inclined, as well as a focus of botanical study. The flora differs greatly between the three sections of the mountain range, with the two igneous sections (The Needles and the central extrusive portion) sharing relatively few species with the southern limestone portions. The limestone section includes some of the northernmost populations of lechuguilla (Agave lecheguilla), often considered an indicator species of the Chihuahuan Desert, whereas the igneous sections of the range include all of the endemic taxa and have botanical affinity with Madrean flora typical of the southeastern Arizona sky islands. Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... Classes Psilotopsida Equisetopsida Marattiopsida Pteridopsida (Polypodiopsida) A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. ... Known scientifically as Agave lecheguilla, it is found only in the Chihuahuan Desert, almost always on limestone. ... The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. ... Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... For the fantasy novel by L. Frank Baum, see Sky Island Sky islands are mountains in ranges isolated by valleys in which other ecosystems are located. ...

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