Numerous legends about gold and silver treasure in New Mexico lost (or buried) by early Spanish explorers persist to this day. Whether there is anything to those stories is a question that remains to be answered. In the meantime, the priceless jewels of New Mexico’s unique landscape are hidden in plain sight: its stunning mountain ranges and peaks.

The mountains of New Mexico are much more than hiking trails and grand vistas. With over one hundred named mountain ranges, New Mexico has more volcanoes than anywhere else in the US. Its mountains are full of geological wonders, historical dramas, colorful characters, endangered plants, rare animals and some of the oldest rocks on earth.

Only in New Mexico will you find a mountain that was once an ocean, the oldest apple trees in the US, plant species found nowhere else in the world, the second fastest mammal on earth, sightings of Big Foot, and ancient footprints of Tyrannosaurs Rex.

So, dig in—no shovel or pickax necessary. What you find may surprise you!