La Cienega, New Mexico
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Santa Fe South census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87507. It lies near Cerro Seguro. The Survey maps it on the Tetilla Peak quadrangle. 3,885 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,932 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresLa Cienega grew from 3,007 to 3,885 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,007 | |
| 2010 | 3,819 | +812 (+27%) |
| 2020 | 3,885 | +66 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 18 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1892 USGS Santa Clara quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Agua Fria quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Tetilla Peak quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Los Alamos quadrangle1:100000
- 1983 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 2002 USGS Tetilla Peak quadrangle1:24000
Photographs
2 photographs, 2021Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
69 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of La Cienega between 1993 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Smoking | 10 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | not named |
| 7 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | M60 |
| 6 August 2003 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CR 45 |
| 11 August 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Bernalillo District | 21-60540190X |
| 8 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Bernalillo District | 21-60180049X |
| 7 July 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bernalillo District | 21-60160044X |
| 6 July 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | OBOY |
| 5 July 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | PINON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 38 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 38 workings within 5 miles of La Cienega: 15 past producers, 14 unknowns, 3 occurrences, 3 prospects. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Zinc, Pumice, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evelyn Mine | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | 1910, 1945 | |
| Evelyn Mine | Copper, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| La Bajada | Uranium, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| La Bajada Mine | Copper, Uranium, Silver, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Germanium, Nickel, Thorium, Sulfur, Arsenic | Past Producer | 1915, 1979 | |
| La Cienga Mine | Volcanic Materials | Producer | Cinders, Scoria | |
| Lone Star Mine | Uranium, Tin, Silver, Molybdenum, Copper | Past Producer | 1915 | |
| Marshall Bonanza Mine | Lead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Iron | Past Producer | 1900, 1950 | |
| Pennsylvania Mine | Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | 1950, 1952 | |
| Trio Claim | Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Turk #1 Or Turq #1 | Gemstone | Producer | Turquoise |
Storms near this place
14 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Cienega in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 6 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust devil. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | Flash Flood | La Cienega | $60,000 | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Cienega | $30,000 | A dry microburst combined with a dust devil to rip the roof off a garage and to overturn small storage sheds. |
| May 2021 | Hail | La Cienega | $2,500 | A trained spotter estimated one inch hail from a severe thunderstorm near Los Cerrillos. The spotter reported that the hail broke a skylight and also stripped leaves from their trees. Damages are estimated for the damage to the skylight. |
| April 2026 | Dust Devil | La Cienega | - | A large and intense dust devil was observed in the Cochiti Pueblo. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Cienega | - | A NMDOT mesonet station along I-25 at La Bajada measured a peak thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Cienega | - | A mesonet station at La Bajada Hill along Interstate 40 recorded a wind gust of 70 mph from a severe thunderstorm. |
| May 2021 | Hail | La Cienega | - | A social media user reported 1.25 inch hail from a severe thunderstorm near La Cienega. |
| August 2018 | Hail | La Cienega | - | Hail up to the size of pennies near Eldorado. Most hail stones were the size of peas. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | La Cienega | - | Gold Mine Road was flooded and impassable for nearly 200 yards near Cerrillos. Major torrents of water raging in San Marcos Arroyo between Eldorado and NM 14 near Cerrillos were captured by local residents, many of whom described it as a rare sight. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | La Cienega | - | Multiple roads closed due to at least 10 inches of water flowing over the road. This included the low water crossing at Dawn Trail and Arroyo Trail, and also at Turquoise Trail and County Road 45. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | La Cienega | - | The intersection of Los Pinos and Sunrise in La Cienega was not passable due to high water and the road was closed for a time. A nearby arroyo had debris in it with fast moving water about 6 feet high. A backhoe had been left in the arroyo somewhat downstream the previous day. This piece of equipment was almost entirely enveloped in water and mud. |
| June 2007 | Hail | La Cienega | - | The hail occurred in La Bajada, along the Santa Fe and Sandoval County border. |
| September 2008 | Hail | La Cienega | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | La Cienega | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonanza City (historical) | 1.7 miles | 17 | |
| Cieneguilla | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Valle Vista | 4.0 miles | 17 | |
| La Bajada | 5.8 miles | 18 | |
| Rosario | 7.7 miles | 17 | |
| Waldo (historical) | 7.8 miles | 17 | |
| Agua Fria | 8.6 miles | 20 | |
| Los Cerrilos | 8.6 miles | 17 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on La Cienega | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2414716 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 918216. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








