SANDIA MOUNTAINS

range in central New Mexico, U.S., northeast of Albuquerque and east of the Rio Grande. Largely within a part of the Cibola National Forest, the mountains extend southward for 30 miles (48 km) and are continued by the Manzano Mountains. They rise to 10,678 feet (3,255 m) in Sandia Crest, which is topped by television towers. The Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway and Ski Area provide year-round recreational facilities with a November-April ski season. A cave in the mountains has yielded artifacts of the so-called Sandia Man (25,000 BC). In Pueblo mythology the Sandias were sacred, marking the southern boundary of the Tiwa-speaking Indian territory.