The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are a substantial mountain area that defines the eastern edge of the middle Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico.

Their elevation changes provide recreational opportunities including winter skiing and summer hiking or picnicing, as compared to the desert grasslands, foothills, and Rio Grande Valley below.

[1] The Manzanita Mountains are a series of low-lying foothills that separate the Sandias from the Manzanos.

[2] A substantial distance gap of much lower elevation grasslands and savanna exists between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Sandia Mountains, and climate conditions shift between both ranges.

These include Quercus turbinella, Opuntia engelmannii, Aloysia wrightii, and the western diamondback rattlesnake.