In addition to this, towns and cities such as Flagstaff , Sedona, and Tucson boast a plethora of interesting historical sights and cultural landmarks. Boasting a startling array of different landscapes, Colorado really does have something for everyone to enjoy. While some head to its delightful wine country, others visit the impressive Ancestral Puebloan ruins in Mesa Verde National Park or take a trip around the majestic scenery in the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
In winter people take their skis and head to the snowy slopes of Aspen , Breckenridge, or Vail. Away from the gorgeous scenery and incredible range of things to see and do, Colorado also has a number of great towns and cities on offer. Lying between California and Utah in the southwest corner of the States, Nevada may be renowned for being home to Las Vegas , but it certainly has much more to offer than just casinos, nightclubs, and glitzy performances.
While most of its landmass is located within the Great Basin, Nevada actually has lots of lovely desert scenery to show off. Although often overlooked by visitors to the Southwest, New Mexico is a gem just waiting to be discovered.
The fourth subregion Meinig calls the "Northern Corridor and Navajolands". A major highway and railway trunk which connects Albuquerque and Flagstaff. Just north of the transportation trunk are large blocks of American Indian land.
Phoenix , Tucson , and Las Vegas dominate the westernmost metropolitan areas in the Southwest, while Albuquerque , and El Paso dominate the easternmost metropolitan areas.
Vegetation of the southwest generally includes various types of yucca , along with saguaro cactus , barrel cactus , prickly pear cactus , desert spoon , creosote bush , sagebrush, and greasewood.
Although cacti is thought to only grow in Arizona and New Mexico, many native cacti grow throughout Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and west Texas. Steppe is also located all over the high plains areas in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The mountains of the southwestern states have large tracts of alpine trees. Landscape features of the core southwestern areas include mountains, canyons, mesas, buttes, high broad basins, plateaus, desert lands, and some plains, characteristic of the Basin and Range Province.
The entire southwestern region features semi-arid to arid terrain. The far eastern part of southwestern Texas, for example the Texas Hill Country , consists of dry, tall, and rugged rocky hills of limestone and granite. South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley is mostly flat with many places consisting of scrub and bare topsoil, much like the deserts further west.
The region has an extremely diverse bird population, with hundreds of species being found in the American Southwest. In the Chiricahua Mountains alone, in southeastern Arizona, there can be found more than species. Species include Canadian Branta canadensis and snow geese , sandhill cranes Grus canadensis , and the roadrunner , the state bird of New Mexico and most famous bird in the region, is found in all states of the Southwest.
Birds of prey include the red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis , Cooper's hawk Accipiter cooperii , the osprey Pandion haliaetus , golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos , Harris's hawk Parabuteo unicinctus , American kestrel Falco sparverius , peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus , the gray hawk Buteo plagiatus , the barn owl Tyto alba , the western screech owl Megascops kennicottii , the great horned owl Bubo virginianus , the elf owl Micrathene whitneyi , and the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia.
Other bird species include the turkey vulture Cathartes aura , the black vulture Coragyps atratus , the northern cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis , the blue grosbeak Passerina caerulea , the house finch Haemorhous mexicanus , the lesser goldfinch Spinus psaltria , the broad-billed hummingbird Cynanthus latirostris , the black-chinned hummingbird Archilochus alexandri , Costa's hummingbird Calypte costae , Gambel's quail Callipepla gambelii , the common raven Corvus corax , the Gila woodpecker Melanerpes uropygialis , the gilded flicker Colaptes chrysoides , the cactus wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus , and the rock wren Salpinctes obsoletus.
Four types of doves call the Southwest home: the white-winged dove Zenaida asiatica , the mourning dove Zenaida macroura , the common ground dove Columbina passerina , and the Inca dove Columbina inca. Mammal species include the bobcat , coyote , black bear , black-tailed jackrabbit , desert cottontail , desert bighorn sheep , mule deer , white-tailed deer , gray fox , mountain lion , river otter , long-tailed weasel , western spotted skunk , pronghorn , raccoon , and Ord's kangaroo rat , all of which can be found in parts of every southwestern state.
White-nosed coati , coati , and collared peccary —or javelina —in the Southwest are normally found in southern areas of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas near the Mexican border. Jaguars can be found in the bootheel region of Southwestern New Mexico. Fish and Wildlife Service study reported a minimum population of Mexican wolves in southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona at the end of There is a large contingent of snakes native to the region. Other reptiles in the region include lizards and turtles.
Lizards are highly represented in the region, the most distinctive denizen being the Gila monster , native only to the American Southwest and the state of Sonora in Mexico. Other lizards include: Sonoran collared lizard Crotaphytus nebrius ; several types of geckos, including western banded gecko Coleonyx variegatus , the common house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus , and the Mediterranean house gecko Hemidactylus turcicus , the last two species being non-native to the region but have been introduced; the desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis ; the chuckwalla Sauromalus ater ; the greater earless lizard Cophosaurus texanus scitulus ; several sub-species of horned lizards Phrynosoma ; numerous species of spiny lizards Sceloporus ; Gilbert's skink Plestiodon gilberti ; the western skink Plestiodon skiltonianus ; Trans-Pecos striped whiptail Aspidoscelis inornata heptagrammus ; and the Arizona night lizard Xantusia arizonae.
Turtles are less numerous than their other reptilian counterparts, but several are found in the region, including: the western painted turtle Chrysemys picta bellii ; the Rio Grande cooter Pseudemys gorzugi ; the desert box turtle Terrapene ornata luteola ; the Big Bend slider Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae ; the Sonora mud turtle Kinosternon sonoriense ; and the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii. Amphibians include numerous toads and frogs in the American Southwest.
Toads which can be found in the region include: the Great Plains toad Anaxyrus cognatus ; the green toad Anaxyrus debilis ; the Arizona toad Anaxyrus microscaphus ; the New Mexico spadefoot Spea multiplicata stagnalis ; and the Colorado River toad Incilius alvarius , also known as the Sonoran Desert toad.
Frog representation includes: western barking frog Craugastor augusti ; the canyon tree frog Hyla arenicolor ; the Arizona treefrog Hyla wrightorum ; the western chorus frog Pseudacris triseriata ; Chiricahua leopard frog Lithobates chiricahuensis ; and the relict leopard frog Lithobates onca.
If including the expanded definition of the Southwest, Houston is the largest city with over 2. The southwestern states are ethnically diverse. Another standout feature of the southwestern states is the national parks and monuments. One of the most notable is the Grand Canyon, which is located in Arizona. Southwest States Show Source.
The far eastern part of the Southwest in Texas, for example the Texas Hill Country , consists of dry, tall and rugged rocky hills of limestone and granite. South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley is mostly flat with many places consisting of scrub and bare topsoil, much like the deserts further west. Buttes are also located all over the southwestern states.
Utah tends to have the most natural buttes, but they do form as far east as some parts on Texas. Desert Bighorn Sheep. There is a wide variety of wildlife in the Southwestern United States.
Elk in the southwest are usually only found in Colorado and Utah. Also, Armadillo's are found in the southwest state of Texas. Snakes are also found all over the southwestern United States. Rattlesnakes are found all throughout every part of the southwest. Sonoran Desert terrain near Tucson. The Southwestern United States features a semi-arid to arid climate, depending on the location. Much of the southwest is an arid desert climate, but higher elevations in the mountains in each state, with the exception of West Texas, feature alpine climates with very large amounts of snow.
The metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and El Paso hardly ever receive any snow at all, as they are strictly desert lands with mountains.
Albuquerque falls at an in between, receiving less snow than other cities, but still receive significant snowfalls in the winter time. Although it snows in this region, the snow in this part of the United States melts rapidly, often before nightfall. This is due mainly to the higher altitude and abundant sunshine in these states. Nevada and Arizona are both generally arid with desert lands and mountains, and receive large amounts of snow in the higher elevations in and near the mountains.
New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado are both generally arid, with desert lands and mountains as well. Colorado and New Mexico do have high plains in the far eastern portions of their state. They all receive decent amounts of snow, and large amounts of snow in the high elevations in the mountains.
Although some areas in far southwestern and southern New Mexico do not receive much snow at all. West Texas is generally arid as well, but does not receive the same amount of snow that the other southwestern states receive at their high elevations.
The terrain of the West Texas region in the southwest is flat rolling land of the plains, which eventually turns into a desert with some hills, and there are significant mountains as well once you reach the trans-Pecos area.
The term "High Desert" is also synonymous with this region. The High Desert is much different than the general desert lands found in Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert.
This area of the desert land generally sits at a very high elevation, much higher than the normal desert land, and can receive very cold temperatures at night in the winter with the exception of California and southern Nevada , sometimes near zero degrees on very cold nights. The High Desert also receives a decent amount of snowfall in the winter with the exception of California and southern Nevada , but melts very quickly.
Other areas of the southwest may also be referred to as the "High Desert", such as the Colorado Plateau. Eastern Utah has a huge mass of desert land, which sits at a high elevation, and is sometimes referred to as the "High Desert" as well. Colorado has scattered desert lands found in southern, southwestern, western, and the northwestern parts of the state. Besides the Chihuahuan Desert lands in southwestern and southern New Mexico, they also have scattered desert lands in the northwestern and northern portions of their state which is referred to as the high desert.
The Grand Canyon. The Great Sand Dunes. The Southwestern United States have many national monuments and parks located in the region. Phoenix , the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest. Denver , the second largest metropolitan area in the Southwest. Las Vegas , the third largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
Salt Lake City , the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Southwest. San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston have large Latino populations as well, but are not always considered part of the Southwest, and are often grouped more with the American South. Many small towns throughout the southwestern states also have significantly large Latino populations.
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