Parque Nacional Desierto de los Leones

the desierto de los leones national park is located in the center of mexico to the southwest of the mexico's basin. it is part of the sierra de las cruces geomorphological unit, which at the same time is part of the trans-mexican volcanic belt. the two mountain ranges form part of the topographic composition of the park. both of these ranges have their origin in the san miguel hill. the first range is formed by three hills: el caballete, los hongos y colorado hills. the hills cruz de colica, xometla and ocotal integrate the second range, which has a northwest orientation. all these hills converge into the santo desierto stream and are separated by three ravines. the park is located in one of the regions with the highest altitude above sea level in all of mexico city. the terrain descends in altitude from south to north with an elevation of 3,790 m.a.s.l (meters above sea level) and connects with the area of the former monastery at an elevation of 2,700 m.a.s.l. the protected area has a medium altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level. the main hills of the desierto de los leones national park are shown in the following table: