Catron County

The county in brief

A traveler's read on Catron County

Catron is the largest county by area in New Mexico (6,928 sq mi) with 0.5 persons per sq mi — among the 30 least-dense counties in the contiguous US — and 75% of the county is federal public land managed by the Gila National Forest. The Gila Wilderness was the world's first congressionally-designated wilderness area (1924), pre-dating the Wilderness Act by 40 years and pre-dating Yellowstone-era park-style protection of roadless backcountry by half a century.

NM-159 Mogollon Road is a paved-then-gravel switchback climb to the historic Mogollon mining town (population 5), gated seasonally and rig-capped at 22 ft per USFS posting. Gila Cliff Dwellings NM at the headwaters of the Gila River holds 13th-century Mogollon culture cliff structures and a small NPS campground with no hookups.