Otero

Otero, county, southern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the south by Texas. The terrain comprises drastic extremes, including elevations to 11,997 feet (3,656 metres) at Sierra Blanca, extensive waterless deserts, and tree-covered mountains. The county lies in the Basin and Range province, with its west in the Highland section. Western Otero county is the wide Tularosa Basin, site of White Sands; north of this desert is a section of the Malpais, a lava bed whitened...