Manzano Peak is the highest peak in the Manzano Mountains

Manzano Mountains

The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north-south and are about 40 miles long. The center of the range lies about 25 miles southeast of Albuquerque, and the northern foothills are just a few miles east of the edge of...

, a mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 in the central part of the US State of New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

. It lies 7 miles (11 km) southwest of the town of Manzano

Manzano, New Mexico

Manzano is a census-designated place in Torrance County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 54 at the 2000 census. The Quarai Ruins of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument are located near the town. The center of population of New Mexico is located in Manzano .Manzano is part of...

 and 18 miles (29 km) east-southeast of the town of Belen

Belen, New Mexico

Belen is a city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem, and over time has gained the nickname "Hub City" because of the Belen Cutoff of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Cutoff made it possible for many more trains to travel east and west across...

, in the Manzano Mountain Wilderness Area, part of the Mountainair Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest

Cibola National Forest

The Cibola National Forest is a United States National Forest in western and central New Mexico, USA. The forest also manages four National Grasslands that stretch from northeastern New Mexico eastward into the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. It is administered by the United States Forest...

. It forms the striking southern anchor of the range, rising 3900 feet (1,189 m) in 3 miles (5 km) above its western base.
The summit is below the tree line, but has views to the east, south, and west.

Manzano Peak can be accessed via trail number 80 (the Kayser Trail), leading to the Crest Trail (number 170), from a trailhead on the east side of the range.