Sierra Madre

Sierra Madre ('Main Chain'), a general name for the mountains that in Mexico stretch northward from about Guadalajara to Arizona, forming the western wall of the plateau, and separating Chihuahua from the maritime states of Sinaloa and Sonora. Along the eastern foothills of the range, in north-west Chihuahua, the country is very fertile. The so-called Sierra Madre Plateau, on the United States frontier, is a northern continuation of the Chihuahua plateau.—The name has often been more widely extended, however, to include the central and eastern ranges of the Cordilleras.