Cordova New Mexico Map

About Cordova, New Mexico

Cordova is a locality in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. It is a small community with a population of 380. The population density is 88.2 people per km². Cordova is located at 36.0072°N, 105.8606°W. It observes the Mountain Time (America/Denver) timezone. ZIP code: 87523.

Cordova reveals itself through the silvered pulse of the Rio Quemado, which carves a narrow, verdant artery through the high desert floor. It lies 12.3 miles east of Española, NM (from Española, NM: bearing 85°T), and is situated 4.8 miles east of Chimayo. The landscape rises in brittle, sun-bleached tiers toward the distant, jagged silhouette of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, their peaks often catching the bruised violet light of late afternoon. To the west, the arid basin of Vallecitos de Abajo stretches out in a silent expanse of sage and scrub, while the rugged terrain of the Santa Fe National Forest encroaches on every side, its ponderosa pines exhaling a sharp, resinous perfume that clings to the cooling air at dusk. Even the distant, shimmering surface of Sierra Mosca Trick Tank seems only a phantom in the heat, a brief interruption in a geography defined by the relentless, clarifying brilliance of the high-altitude sun.

Cordova persists as a living record of Hispano heritage, where the tradition of wood carving remains anchored in the quiet, steady rhythm of daily life. The economy here is not one of scale, but of small, deliberate movements—the tending of orchards, the patience required for traditional craft, and the seasonal harvest that turns the adobe walls into a backdrop for drying chiles. History remains palpable in the architecture, where the earth itself is molded into shelter, reflecting a lineage of survival that predates modern transit. For the few who wander the nearby Medio Dia Trail, the land offers a stark, meditative solitude, a place where the passage of time is measured not by clocks, but by the slow, inevitable lengthening of shadows across the valley floor.

About This Cordova Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cordova, New Mexico. Coordinates: 36.007247, -105.860575. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Cordova includes the ZIP code (87523), telephone area code (505), county seat of Rio Arriba County (Tierra Amarilla), and school district assignment (Española Municipal Schools).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.