List of New Mexico state parks
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This is a list of state parks and reserves in the New Mexico state park system. The system began with the establishment of Bottomless Lakes State Park on November 18, 1933.[1] New Mexico currently has 35 state parks. It has been calculated that 70% of the state's population lives within 40 miles (64 km) of a New Mexico state park.[2] The system as a whole saw 4.5 million visitors in 2009.[2] The parks are managed by the New Mexico State Parks Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The mission of the State Parks Division is to "protect and enhance natural and cultural resources, provide first-class recreational and education facilities and opportunities, and promote public safety to benefit and enrich the lives of visitors."[3]
| Park Name | Web- site |
County or Counties | Area in Acres (km²)[4] | Elevation[4] | Date Established[5] |
Remarks[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluewater Lake State Park | [1] | Cibola | 3,000 acres (12 km²) | 7,400 ft (2256 m) | 1937 | Encircles a 1,200-acre (490 ha) reservoir in the Zuni Mountains. |
| Bottomless Lakes State Park | [2] | Chaves | 1,400 acres (5.6 km²) | 3,500 ft (1067 m) | 1933 | Encompasses eight cenotes whose greenish-blue water disguises their true depth.[6] |
| Brantley Lake State Park | [3] | Eddy | 3,000 acres (12 km²) | 3,300 ft (1006 m) | 1989 | Features New Mexico's southernmost lake, a 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) reservoir on the Pecos River. |
| Caballo Lake State Park | [4] | Sierra | 5,384 acres (21.8 km²) | 4,100 ft (1250 m) | 1964 | Surrounds Caballo Lake, a 11,500-acre (4,700 ha) reservoir on the Rio Grande. |
| Cerrillos Hills State Park | [5] | Santa Fe | 1,116 acres (4.5 km²) | 2009 | Provides day-use recreation amidst 1,100 years of mining history. | |
| Cimarron Canyon State Park | [6] | Colfax | 378 acres (1.5 km²) | 7,500 ft (2286 m) | 1979 | Showcases the canyon of the Cimarron River and the Palisades Sill formation. |
| City of Rocks State Park | [7] | Grant | 1,230 acres (4.97 km²) | 5,250 ft (1600 m) | 1953 | Features rock formations eroded out of 35 million year old volcanic ash, and a public observatory. |
| Clayton Lake State Park | [8] | Union | 471 acres (1.9 km²) | 5,040 ft (1536 m) | 1965 | Features a 170-acre (69 ha) reservoir and an extensive trackway of fossilized dinosaur footprints. |
| Conchas Lake State Park | [9] | San Miguel | 359 acres (1.45 km²)[7] | 4,200 ft (1280 m) | 1955 | Adjoins a 16,400-acre (6,600 ha) reservoir on the Canadian River. |
| Coyote Creek State Park | [10] | Mora | 462 acres (1.87 km²) | 7,700 ft (1280 m) | 1969 | Offers the most densely stocked trout stream in New Mexico. |
| Eagle Nest Lake State Park | [11] | Colfax | 3,488 acres (1.41 km²) | 8,300 ft (2530 m) | 2004 | Provides access to a 2,400-acre (970 ha) reservoir in a scenic mountain valley. |
| Elephant Butte Lake State Park | [12] | Sierra | 24,500 acres (99 km²) | 4,500 ft (1372 m) | 1964 | Surrounds Elephant Butte Reservoir, the state's largest and most popular reservoir. |
| El Vado Lake State Park | [13] | Rio Arriba | 1,730 acres (7 km²) | 6,900 ft (2103 m) | 1961 | Provides access to a 3,200-acre (1,300 ha) reservoir adjacent to Heron Lake State Park. |
| Fenton Lake State Park | [14] | Sandoval | 700 acres (2.8 km²) | 7,900 ft (2408 m) | 1984 | Encompasses a 37-acre (15 ha) reservoir surrounded by ponderosa pine forest. |
| Heron Lake State Park | [15] | Rio Arriba | 4,100 acres (1.66 km²) | 7,200 ft (2195 m) | Provides access to a 5,900-acre (2,400 ha) no-wake reservoir adjacent to El Vado Lake State Park. | |
| Hyde Memorial State Park | [16] | Santa Fe | 350 acres (1.42 km²) | 8,500 ft (2591 m) | 1938 | Provides outdoor recreation amenities near Santa Fe. |
| Leasburg Dam State Park | [17] | Doña Ana | 293 acres (1.19 km²) | 4,200 ft (1280 m) | 1971 | Features a quiet stretch of the Rio Grande below a 1908 diversion dam. |
| Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park | [18] | Eddy | 1,500 acres (6.07 km²) | 3,200 ft (975 m) | 1967 | Comprises a zoo and botanical garden of wildlife native to the Chihuahuan Desert in the city of Carlsbad. |
| Manzano Mountains State Park | [19] | Torrance | 160 acres (0.65 km²) | 7,600 ft (2316 m) | 1973 | Protects part of the forested foothills of the Manzano Mountains. |
| Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park | [20] | Doña Ana | 305 acres (1.23 km²) | 3,900 ft (1189 m) | 2003 | Interprets a bosque on the Rio Grande and adjacent Chihuahuan Desert. |
| Morphy Lake State Park | [21] | Mora | 30 acres (0.12 km²) | 8,000 ft (2438 m) | 1965 | Preserves a small, secluded lake in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. |
| Navajo Lake State Park | [22] | Rio Arriba and San Juan | 21,000 acres (85 km²) | 6,100 ft (1859 m) | 1995 | Comprises three units on New Mexico's second-largest reservoir. |
| Oasis State Park | [23] | Roosevelt | 193 acres (0.78 km²) | 4,100 ft (1250 m) | 1961 | Features a fishing pond and sand dunes amidst the east-central plains. |
| Oliver Lee Memorial State Park | [24] | Otero | 640 acres (2.59 km²) | 4,363 ft (1330 m) | 1980 | Showcases a verdant canyon in the Sacramento Mountains and Oliver Lee's restored 1893 ranch house. |
| Pancho Villa State Park | [25] | Luna | 60 acres (0.24 km²) | 4,060 ft (1237 m) | 1961 | Interprets the 1916 Battle of Columbus (Pancho Villa's raid onto U.S. soil) and the retaliatory Pancho Villa Expedition. |
| Percha Dam State Park | [26] | Sierra | 80 acres (0.32 km²) | 4,100 ft (1250 m) | 1970 | Provides outdoor recreation on an impounded section of the Rio Grande. |
| Rio Grande Nature Center State Park | [27] | Bernalillo | 38 acres (0.15 km²) | 5,000 ft (1524 m) | 1982 | Inteprets a bosque on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. |
| Rockhound State Park | [28] | Luna | 1,100 acres (4.45 km²) | 4,500 ft (1372 m) | 1965 | Allows mineral collecting for amateur geology in the Florida Mountains. |
| Santa Rosa Lake State Park | [29] | Guadalupe | 550 acres (2.23 km²) | 4,800 ft (1463 m) | Adjoins a 3,800-acre (1,500 ha) reservoir. | |
| Storrie Lake State Park | [30] | San Miguel | 80 acres (0.32 km²) | 6,600 ft (2012 m) | 1960 | Adjoins a 1,100-acre (450 ha) reservoir in the Zuni Mountains. |
| Sugarite Canyon State Park | [31] | Colfax | 3,600 acres (14.57 km²) | 6,950 ft (2118 m) | 1985 | Interprets the ruins of a historic early-20th Century coal-mining camp. |
| Sumner Lake State Park | [32] | De Baca | 6,700 acres (27 km²) | 4,300 ft (1311 m) | 1966 | Adjoins a 4,500-acre (1,800 ha) reservoir on the Pecos River. |
| Ute Lake State Park | [33] | Quay | 1,500 acres (6.07 km²) | 3,900 ft (1189 m) | 1964 | Adjoins an 8,200-acre (3,300 ha) reservoir on the Canadian River. |
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park | [34] | Colfax | 8,500 ft (2591 m) | 2005 | Honors the veterans of the Vietnam War, the country's oldest such memorial (established 1968) and the only one comprising a whole state park. | |
| Villanueva State Park | [35] | San Miguel | 1,600 acres (6.48 km²) | 5,600 ft (1707 m) | 1967 | Preserves a red sandstone canyon on the Pecos River. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Bottomless Lakes State Park Management and Development Plan". http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/documents/BottomlessLakeStatePark.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
- ^ a b New Mexico State Parks Division. "New Mexico State Parks". http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ New Mexico State Parks Division: Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (2010). "Cimarron Canyon State Park Management Plan 2010". New Mexico State Parks. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/documents/CimarronPMPFinalPDFs_000.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ a b c All data come from respective New Mexico State Parks Division webpage unless otherwise noted.
- ^ All data come from respective state park management plans unless otherwise noted.
- ^ New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources. "NMBGMR Geologic Tour: Bottomless Lakes State Park". http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/bottomless_lakes/home.html.
- ^ "Conchas Lake State Park Management Plan 2010". New Mexico State Parks Division - Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. 2010. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/documents/ConchasLPMPFINALPDF_000.pdf.
[edit] External links
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