Sierra County is a place of significant untouched open spaces and so affords the nature enthusiast with unlimited opportunities to find breathtaking views of nature in all its untouched beauty. There are many trails for hiking found throughout the county, ranging from short nature trails to strenuous mountain ridge routes. In addition a drive along the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway will take you through the core of some of the most unspoiled areas to be found anywhere. The photo at right was taken at Emory Pass which is along the Byway. There are breathtaking and expansive vistas and opportunities to get almost eye-to-eye with the incredible fauna that make this place their home. The photo of Percha Creek (above) was taken near Kingston in September 2008.

Located in southwestern New Mexico, Sierra county (map) is in the Mexican Highland section of the Basin and Range Province. On April 3, 1884 the New Mexico Territorial Legislature created Sierra County. It was carved from parts of Dona Ana, Grant and Socorro counties and was named for the Sierra de los Caballos range of mountains. Its irregular western border is the Black Range, including Hillsboro and Reeds peaks, both rising to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The Rio Grande, including the Caballo and Elephant Butte reservoirs, flows southward through the centre of the county. Immediately east of the reservoirs are the Sierra Caballo and Fra Cristobal Range; the Jornada del Muerto desert separates those mountains from the San Andreas Mountains in the northeast. Sierra county includes Gila National Forest, Aldo Leopold Wilderness, and Percha Dam, Caballo Lake, and Elephant Butte Lake state parks.