Cerro Grande (New Mexico) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cerro Grande
View from the summit looking west toward the Valles Caldera (visible at lower left) before the Las Conchas Fire.
Highest point
Elevation	10,207 ft (3,111 m) NAVD 88
Prominence	660 ft (200 m)
Geography
Cerro Grande Location in New Mexico
Parent range	Jemez Mountains
Topo map	Bland
Climbing
Easiest route	Trail hike

Cerro Grande is a 10,207-foot (3,111 m) summit on the rim of the Valles Caldera not far north of New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County. Like many mountains in the Jemez, Cerro Grande was mainly covered with coniferous forest, composed largely of ponderosa pine and aspen trees, with a characteristic rincon (meadow) on its slopes on and south of the summit.

In May 2000, a prescribed burn on Cerro Grande got out of control and became the Cerro Grande Fire, a forest fire that burned 48,000 acres (190 km²) and destroyed hundreds of homes. Much of the forest on Cerro Grande itself was not damaged badly or at all. However, the whole mountain burned severely in the Las Conchas Fire of 2011.