Cerro Grande (New Mexico)
Cerro Grande is a summit on the rim of the Valles Caldera not far north of New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County. Like many mountains in the Jemez, Cerro Grande was mainly covered with coniferous forest, composed largely of ponderosa pine and aspen trees, with a characteristic rincon on its slopes on and south of the summit.
In May 2000, a prescribed burn on Cerro Grande got out of control and became the Cerro Grande Fire, a forest fire that burned 48,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes.[ Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, Committee on Resources, U.S. House of Representatives. Report Number GAO/T-RCED-00-273] Much of the forest on Cerro Grande itself was not damaged badly or at all. However, the whole mountain burned severely in the Las Conchas Fire of 2011.
