Arizona/New Mexico Mountains

The Arizona and New Mexico Mountains rise out of the surrounding desert as pine and oak highlands, taking in Flagstaff, Payson, Show Low, Prescott, and Ruidoso. Elevation buys real winters, cooler summers, and a dependable late-summer monsoon that the lowlands below do not get in the same way. Natives like deer grass, blackfoot daisy, and California wild buckwheat suit that pattern of cold nights and heavy August rain.

Conditions: Rocky volcanic and limestone soils, 15–25 inches of precipitation split between winter snow and a summer monsoon, cold nights year round.

Cities and areas: Flagstaff, Payson, Show Low, Prescott, Ruidoso, Silver City.