The monument surrounds Las Cruces and protects five mountain ranges of the Chihuahuan Desert: the Robledo Mountains, Sierra de las Uvas, Doña Ana Mountains, Organ Mountains and Potrillo Mountains. It holds 243 known archaeological sites, 22 miles of the historic Butterfield Stagecoach Trail and Kilbourne Hole, where astronauts trained for lunar missions in the 1960s.
President Obama designated it on May 21, 2014. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.