Valle Grande, New Mexico
| Valles Caldera | |
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Cerro la Jara, an approximately 75-metre (246 ft) high forested rhyolite lava dome within the caldera.
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 11,253 ft (3,430 m) |
| Coordinates | 35°54′N 106°32′W / 35.900°N 106.533°WCoordinates: 35°54′N 106°32′W / 35.900°N 106.533°W |
| Geography | |
 Valles Caldera
Location in New Mexico
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| Location | Sandoval County, New Mexico, US |
| Parent range | Jemez Mountains |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Complex Caldera |
| Volcanic arc/belt | Jemez Lineament and Rio Grande Rift |
| Last eruption | 50,000–60,000 yrs BP |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | New Mexico State Road 4 |
| Designated | 1975 |
Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a 13.7-mile (22.0 km) wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera is Redondo Peak, an 11,253-foot (3,430 m) resurgent lava dome located entirely within the caldera. Also within the caldera are several grass valleys [Valle(s)] the largest of which is Valle Grande (local pronunciation: /ˈvaɪ.eɪ ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/; VY-ay GRAHN-day), the only one accessible by a paved road. Much of the caldera is within the Valles Caldera National Preserve, a unit of the National Park System.
Use of Valles Caldera dates back to the prehistoric times: spear points dating to 11,000 years ago have been discovered. Several Native American tribes frequented the caldera, often seasonally for hunting and for obsidian, used for spear and arrow points. Obsidian from the caldera was traded by tribes across much of the Southwest. Eventually, Spanish and later Mexican settlers as well as the Navajo and other tribes came to the caldera seasonally for grazing with periodic clashes and raids. Later as the United States acquired New Mexico as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the caldera became the backdrop for the Indian wars with the U.S Army. Around the same time, the commercial use of the caldera for ranching, and its forest for logging began.
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