High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Sierra Gorda is an ecological region centered on the northern third of the state of Queretaro and extending into the neighboring states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi. Within Queretaro, the ecosystem extends from the center of the state starting in parts of San Joaquin and Cadereyta de Montes municipalities and covering all of the municipalities of Penamiller, Pinal de Amoles, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros and Arroyo Seco, for a total of 250 km2 of territory. The area is extremely rugged with high steep mountains and deep canyons. As part of the Huasteca Karst, it also contains many formations due to erosion of limestone, especially pit caves known locally as sotanos. The area is valued for its very wide diversity of plant and animal life, which is due to the various microenvironments created by the ruggedness of the terrain and wide variation in rainfall. This is due to the mountains’ blocking of moisture coming in...