Animas Valley

Animas Valley
Valley
View of Animas, NM looking west-southwest (center-north valley, Chiricahua Mountains massif at right, north-south, Peloncillo Mountains at photo left-(Animas Valley in front, extending left, south and off-photo); the road heading to the upper right of the image is New Mexico State Road 9-(east-west) heading westwards into Antelope Pass in the Peloncillos). The Animas Valley extends left-(south), out of view, in front of the Peloncillos. The San Simon Valley lies on horizon, in front of the Chiricahuas, extending north-south, across the photo, on the western side of the Peloncillos.
Country	United States
States	New Mexico, Sonora, Chihuahua (state)
Region	New Mexico Bootheel ((northwest)-Chihuahuan Desert)
County	Hidalgo County, NM
Borders on	Continental Divide-E Peloncillo Mountains (Hidalgo County)-W & NW Guadalupe Mountains (Hidalgo County) -(extreme-SW)
Cities	Animas, NM–Lordsburg, NM
Landmark	Continental Divide of the Americas
Lake	Playa, south of Animas, NM
River	Animas Creek
Coordinates	31°56′56″N 108°48′26″W / 31.94889°N 108.80722°W / 31.94889; -108.80722Coordinates: 31°56′56″N 108°48′26″W / 31.94889°N 108.80722°W / 31.94889; -108.80722
Lowest point	1–(dry lake), Animas Creek, south of Animas, NM 2–Chihuahuan Desert, in extreme south
- location	Animas Valley
- coordinates	31°56′56″N 108°48′26″W / 31.94889°N 108.80722°W / 31.94889; -108.80722
Length	85 mi (137 km), N-S
Width	15 mi (24 km), E-W-(variable width)
Animas Valley (north region) in New Mexico

The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north-south 85-mi (137 km) long,valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora-Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan Desert, the large desert region of the north-central Mexican Plateau and the Rio Grande valley and river system.

The Continental Divide of the Americas forms the valley's eastern border in a series of mountain ranges. The parallel valley eastwards on the eastern side of the Continental Divide is the slightly shorter, but also long and narrow Playas Valley.

Westwards of the narrow, lengthy and divided Peloncillo Mountains, are the two valleys in Arizona, the San Simon and San Bernardino Valleys, both east of the massif of the Chiricahua Mountains and associated mountain ranges, which anchor the eastern half of Cochise County. Parts of this entire region with its mountain ridgelines, and mountaintops, and associated valleys are part of the sky island region called the Madrean Sky Islands of Arizona–New Mexico, and Sonora–Chihuahua, in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.