Sierra Madre Oriental

What Is It?

The Sierra Madre Oriental is a long line of tall mountains in northeastern Mexico. It is part of the American Cordillera, a long chain of mountains that runs along the western side of North America, Central America, South America, and even Antarctica.

Where Is It?

The mountains start at the Rio Grande, a river on the border between Coahuila and Texas. They run south through Nuevo León and then southwest through Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo. The range stretches about 1,000 kilometres, which is a very long way to walk!

North of the river, the mountains keep going into Texas, where they are called the Davis and Guadalupe Ranges. East of the mountains is the Gulf Coastal Plain, which is flat land near the Gulf of Mexico.

The Tallest Peaks

The highest point in the range is Cerro El Potosí. It is about 3,721 metres tall, and it is the highest point in Nuevo León too.

Plants and Animals

The mountains are home to many kinds of living things. Some plants and animals, called endemic species, are found nowhere else in the world. The forests have many pine and oak trees, and the drier places have cacti and succulents.

Colourful birds live here too, such as the Mexican chickadee, the Montezuma quail, and the zone-tailed hawk. Parts of the forest are also protected, like Cumbres de Monterrey National Park and El Cielo Biosphere, where you can find misty cloud forests.

To learn about more birds, you can read the list of birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental.