The range runs parallel to the Pacific coast of Mexico, from just south of the Arizona-Sonora border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins with the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Eje Volcánico Transversal (Transverse Volcanic Axis) of central Mexico after crossing 1,250 km (780 mi). The mountains range from 300 km (190 mi) from the Gulf of California in the north, but begin to approach within 50 km (30 mi) of the Pacific in the south. These mountains are generally considered to be part of the much larger American cordillera, the mountains extending from Alaska down to these across western North America.