[6] Reserve is located in western Catron County in the valley of the San Francisco River.

New Mexico State Road 12 passes through the village, leading west 7 miles (11 km) to U.S. Route 180 near Reserve Airport and northeast 67 miles (108 km) to U.S. Route 60 at Datil.

[7] Reserve is situated in the Gila National Forest about 15 mi (24 km) east of the Arizona/New Mexico border.

[7] The area includes ruins from the Mogollon and Anasazi tribes, as well as petroglyphs and historic Old West sites.

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.54 square miles (1.4 km2), all land.

Reserve has a Mediterranean climate of the warm-summer type (Köppen: Csb), unusual in New Mexico.

Reserve receives most of its rainfall in the form of thunderstorms from mid-summer into fall from the North American Monsoon, which can produce hazardous flash floods very quickly.

Snow usually falls once or twice a year, but melts quickly due to the high daytime temperatures.

[17] This Ancestral Pueblo pottery type was named for the Reserve area, where it was first found, and is a major subdivision of the Cibola Whiteware group.