The eastern edge of the West Mesa is defined by an escarpment that borders the Rio Grande floodplain. The West Mesa also serves as the easternmost extent of the Colorado Plateau in this region. The western edge of the mesa is the Rio Puerco near the Laguna Pueblo about 20 miles (32 km) west of Albuquerque. A large portion of the West Mesa is part of Petroglyph National Monument and is bisected by Interstate 40 and Historic Route 66. Atrisco Vista (previously named Paseo del Volcan) (NM 347) runs north-south on the West Mesa, connecting I-40/US-66 to Double Eagle II Airport.
There are numerous subdivisions with new homes being built on the lower portion of the West Mesa as the City of Albuquerque continues to expand further to the west. Further west on the mesa are the mobile home communities of Pajarito, located to the south of I-40, and Lost Horizon, located about 1/2 mile north of I-40 and 3 miles west of the Paseo del Volcan interchange.
The Bernalillo County Correctional Facility, Cerro Colorado Landfill, and the Sandia Motor Speedway are located on the West Mesa, several miles south of Interstate 40. The National Weather Service operates a WSR-88D NEXRAD radar site on the West Mesa near Double Eagle II Airport.
Subdivisions
Year
Population
1980
39,602
1990
69,700
2000
114,552
2010
184,996
Includes West Mesa region only
The major subdivisions in the West Mesa area of Albuquerque are:
