The Big Burro Mountains occupy a geographic crossroads unlike any other in New Mexico. To the northwest, the Gila River drains toward the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. To the southeast, the Chihuahuan Desert extends through the Playas and Animas Valleys into Mexico. The range marks the collision point of these two vast arid ecosystems, creating a transitional zone where species from both deserts intermingle. The Gila Wilderness lies to the north, one of America's first designated wilderness areas, while to the southwest stretch the long north-south valleys that carry travelers toward the border.

The rocks beneath these mountains tell a story spanning 1.6 billion years. The Big Burros are part of the Mazatzal province, a block of Earth's crust that began as an island arc in a primordial ocean. Around 1650 million years ago, this arc collided with and merged into the North American continent. Two hundred million years later, massive intrusions of magma cooled underground to form granitic batholiths, including the distinctive Burro Mountain granite. A later intrusion around 1225 million years ago created the Redrock granite. During the Tertiary period, yet another intrusion formed a laccolith with copper ore that would eventually draw industrial mining to Tyrone.

Long before Europeans arrived, Native Americans recognized the value hidden in these mountains. Turquoise deposits drew miners who carved the blue-green stone from the earth for trade networks that stretched across the Southwest and into Mexico. The scope of these pre-European workings remains largely unknown because subsequent copper mining at Tyrone destroyed most of the archaeological evidence. What survives suggests extensive, organized mining operations predating Spanish contact by centuries. The turquoise trade connected these remote mountains to distant civilizations, making the Big Burros a node in continental commerce long before wagon roads or railroads.

Burro Peak rises to 8,022 feet as the highest point in the range, and the Continental Divide crosses directly over its summit. Here the divide begins leaving the forested mountain country behind. From Silver City, it passes through the Little Burro Mountains, then over the Big Burros before dropping through a series of north-south ranges toward Mexico. This marks a transition point where waters parting ways will eventually reach either the Pacific Ocean via the Gila River system or the Gulf of Mexico through countless arroyos flowing east. Bullard Peak, at the approximate center of the range, stands as a useful landmark for understanding the mountains' northwest-southeast orientation.

The Big Burro Mountains enjoy surprisingly easy access for such a rugged landscape. Silver City and its mining satellite Tyrone border the range to the east. The communities of Cliff and Gila sit at the northern approach, where the mountains give way to the Gila River valley. Red Rock lies to the west, and White Signal marks the southeastern corner. This ring of settlements grew from mining and ranching, and today they provide multiple entry points for exploring a range that seems remote but sits squarely within reach of several population centers. The proximity to Silver City makes these mountains among the most accessible wilderness-adjacent terrain in southwestern New Mexico.