The Hueco Mountains are a range of mountains that rise in southern Otero County, New Mexico

Otero County, New Mexico

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*72.7% White*3.5% Black*6.7% Native American*1.2% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.2% Two or more races*11.2% Other races*34.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 and extend twenty-seven miles south into Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, generally along the El Paso-Hudspeth

Hudspeth County, Texas

Hudspeth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. As of 2000, the population was 3,344. By 2010, the population had increased to 3,476. Its county seat is Sierra Blanca. The largest city is Fort Hancock...

 county line just east of the city of El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

. The highest point of the range is the Cerro Alto Mountain (6,703 feet) in Hudspeth County.

The Hueco Bolson

Hueco Tanks

Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains in El Paso County, Texas, USA. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east. Hueco is a Spanish word meaning hollows and refers to the many water-holding depressions in the...

, a down-dropped area with an elevation of 4,000 feet above sea level, with sedimentary fill nearly 9,000 feet thick, lies between Hueco and Franklin Mountains

Franklin Mountains (Texas)

The Franklin Mountains of Texas are a small range that extend from El Paso, Texas north into New Mexico. The Franklins were formed due to crustal extension related to the Cenozoic Rio Grande rift...

. Shallow, stony soils in the Hueco Mountains support oak, juniper, and some mesquite. The mountains were part of the Rocky Mountain trend

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

, forced upward as part of the Laramide mountain-building period during the late Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

, 60 to 70 million years ago.

The word hueco is Spanish for hollow.