The Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) has obtained high resolution (R~22,500) near-infrared spectra of over 100,000 stars, including a subset of ~4000 low-mass dwarfs with estimated effective temperatures of 3500 K < Teff < 4200 K. We use data from standard stars to confirm the accuracy of APOGEE parameters for these stars, which sit at the low temperature, high gravity end of the APOGEE model grid. We then cross-match these late-K and early-M dwarfs with photometry from SDSS, 2MASS, and WISE to examine the relationships between effective temperature, metallicity, and color for these low mass stars. In this effective temperature regime, u-g, g-r, and W1-W2 colors are metallicity sensitive, while r-z is a better tracer of Teff. We compare Teff, metallicity, and colors with parameters derived from the Padova, Dartmouth, and BT-Settl model grids, finding that while no set of models fits exactly, each set reproduces similar general trends.