WHAT IS THE BOOTHEEL?

The Bootheel is the heel of the boot in the southwestern corner of New Mexico and includes Hidalgo County and parts of Grant County. This is the beginning of the trail from the southern terminus at the US-Mexico border. The terminus is the southern origin of the trail where people hike from Crazy Cook Monument after taking a shuttle from Lordsburg down a highway, and carefully navigating dirt roads.

The Bootheel region is home to a variety of plant and animal species that are found nowhere else in the world.

For Northbounders on a thru-hike, this is the start of a big accomplishment; New Mexico makes up 820 miles of trail, and in the Bootheel, the trail is about 158 miles from Crazy Cook Monument to Silver City, NM. This area, rich in history and biodiversity, has a lot to offer residents and visitors alike.

The Bootheel region is home to a variety of plant and animal species that are found nowhere else in the world. This is partly due to the area’s location at the crossroads of several different ecological regions, including the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts and the Rocky Mountains. There are grasslands, riparian areas, and wetlands within these habitats that support a high level of biodiversity; the Bootheel is one of the most biologically diverse places in the United States! These habitats provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds for a variety of wildlife, including many threatened and endangered species. For example, this region is an important migratory corridor for several bird species, including sandhill cranes, snow geese, and various others. The region’s ciénega and riparian areas provide critical stopover sites for these birds to migrate between their summer and winter habitats. A ciénega is a wetland system unique to the American Southwest.

There’s a lot of cultural history here as well. Indigenous people have been here for time immemorial. These tribal nations are the Fort Sill/Warm Springs Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Mescalero Apache, Piro-Manso-Tiwa, Ysleta Del Sur, Tohono O’odham, and other connected tribes. They were systematically and violently removed from their homelands, food systems, and sacred places. Though forcibly relocated from their homelands, some tribes still live in the region, mostly in Arizona, near the Rio Grande River, and as far as Oklahoma, where the Warm Springs Apache were forced during colonial expansion. The Spanish settled in the region and played a key role in developing the state of New Mexico, including historic architecture. The Bootheel’s economy is now shaped by its long history of ranching, agriculture, and mining. Many ranchers and farmers in the area continue to raise cattle and grow crops.

The Bootheel region of New Mexico is an important area for biodiversity because it supports a variety of unique and threatened plant and animal species. It has a rich cultural history, which contributes to the character and identity of the region that all help to make up the CDT experience.

Continental Divide Trail - New Mexico Bootheel