List of New Mexico state parks

Map of State Parks of New Mexico
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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 | County or Counties | Size[4] | Elevation[4] | Year
Established[5] | Remarks

|
|
|
|
|

acres  | ha  | ft  | m
Bluewater Lake State Park | Cibola | 3,000  | 1,200 | 7,400  | 2,300 | 1937 | Encircles a 1,200-acre (490 ha) reservoir in the Zuni Mountains.[6]
Bottomless Lakes State Park | Chaves | 1,400  | 570 | 3,500  | 1,100 | 1933 | Encompasses eight cenotes whose greenish-blue water disguises their true depth.[7]
Brantley Lake State Park | Eddy | 3,000  | 1,200 | 3,300  | 1,000 | 1989 | Features New Mexico's southernmost lake, a 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) reservoir on the Pecos River.[8]
Caballo Lake State Park | Sierra | 5,384  | 2,179 | 4,100  | 1,200 | 1964 | Surrounds Caballo Lake, a 11,500-acre (4,700 ha) reservoir on the Rio Grande.[9]
Cerrillos Hills State Park | Santa Fe | 1,116  | 452 |  |  | 2009 | Provides day-use recreation amidst 1,100 years of mining history.[10]
Cimarron Canyon State Park | Colfax | 378  | 153 | 7,500  | 2,300 | 1979 | Showcases the canyon of the Cimarron River and the Palisades Sill formation.[11]
City of Rocks State Park | Grant | 1,230  | 500 | 5,250  | 1,600 | 1953 | Features rock formations eroded out of 35-million-year-old volcanic ash, and a public observatory.[12]
Clayton Lake State Park | Union | 471  | 191 | 5,040  | 1,540 | 1965 | Features a 170-acre (69 ha) reservoir and an extensive fossil trackway of dinosaur footprints.[13]
Conchas Lake State Park | San Miguel | 359  | 145[14] | 4,200  | 1,300 | 1955 | Adjoins a 16,400-acre (6,600 ha) reservoir on the Canadian River.[15]
Coyote Creek State Park | Mora | 462  | 187 | 7,700  | 2,300 | 1969 | Boasts the most densely stocked trout stream in New Mexico.[16]
Eagle Nest Lake State Park | Colfax | 3,488  | 1,412 | 8,300  | 2,500 | 2004 | Provides access to a 2,400-acre (970 ha) reservoir in a scenic mountain valley.[17]
Elephant Butte Lake State Park | Sierra | 24,500  | 9,900 | 4,500  | 1,400 | 1964 | Surrounds Elephant Butte Reservoir, the state's largest and most popular reservoir.[18]
El Vado Lake State Park | Rio Arriba | 1,730  | 700 | 6,900  | 2,100 | 1961 | Provides access to a 3,200-acre (1,300 ha) reservoir adjacent to Heron Lake State Park.[19]
Fenton Lake State Park | Sandoval | 700  | 280 | 7,900  | 2,400 | 1984 | Encompasses a 37-acre (15 ha) reservoir surrounded by ponderosa pine forest.[20]
Heron Lake State Park | Rio Arriba | 4,100  | 1,700 | 7,200  | 2,200 |  | Provides access to a 5,900-acre (2,400 ha) no-wake reservoir adjacent to El Vado Lake State Park.[21]
Hyde Memorial State Park | Santa Fe | 350  | 140 | 8,500  | 2,600 | 1938 | Provides outdoor recreation amenities near Santa Fe.[22]
Leasburg Dam State Park | Doña Ana | 293  | 119 | 4,200  | 1,300 | 1971 | Features a quiet stretch of the Rio Grande below a 1908 diversion dam.[23]
Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park | Eddy | 1,500  | 610 | 3,200  | 980 | 1967 | Comprises a zoo and botanical garden of wildlife native to the Chihuahuan Desert in the city of Carlsbad.[24]
Manzano Mountains State Park | Torrance | 160  | 65 | 7,600  | 2,300 | 1973 | Protects part of the forested foothills of the Manzano Mountains.[25]
Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park | Doña Ana | 305  | 123 | 3,900  | 1,200 | 2003 | Interprets a bosque on the Rio Grande and adjacent Chihuahuan Desert.[26]
Morphy Lake State Park | Mora | 30  | 12 | 8,000  | 2,400 | 1965 | Preserves a small, secluded lake in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.[27]
Navajo Lake State Park | Rio Arriba and San Juan | 21,000  | 8,500 | 6,100  | 1,900 | 1995 | Comprises three units on New Mexico's second-largest reservoir.[28]
Oasis State Park | Roosevelt | 193  | 78 | 4,100  | 1,200 | 1961 | Features a fishing pond and sand dunes amidst the east-central plains.[29]
Oliver Lee Memorial State Park | Otero | 640  | 260 | 4,363  | 1,330 | 1980 | Showcases a verdant canyon in the Sacramento Mountains and Oliver Lee's restored 1893 ranch house.[30]
Pancho Villa State Park | Luna | 60  | 24 | 4,060  | 1,240 | 1961 | Interprets the 1916 Battle of Columbus (Pancho Villa's raid onto U.S. soil) and the retaliatory Pancho Villa Expedition.[31]
Percha Dam State Park | Sierra | 80  | 32 | 4,100  | 1,200 | 1970 | Provides outdoor recreation on an impounded section of the Rio Grande.[32]
Rio Grande Nature Center State Park | Bernalillo | 38  | 15 | 5,000  | 1,500 | 1982 | Interprets a bosque on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque.[33]
Rockhound State Park | Luna | 1,100  | 450 | 4,500  | 1,400 | 1965 | Allows mineral collecting for amateur geology in the Florida Mountains.[34]
Santa Rosa Lake State Park | Guadalupe | 550  | 220 | 4,800  | 1,500 |  | Adjoins a 3,800-acre (1,500 ha) reservoir.[35]
Storrie Lake State Park | San Miguel | 80  | 32 | 6,600  | 2,000 | 1960 | Adjoins a 1,100-acre (450 ha) reservoir in the Zuni Mountains.[36]
Sugarite Canyon State Park | Colfax | 3,600  | 1,500 | 6,950  | 2,120 | 1985 | Interprets the ruins of a historic early-20th-century coal-mining camp.[37]
Sumner Lake State Park | De Baca | 6,700  | 2,700 | 4,300  | 1,300 | 1966 | Adjoins a 4,500-acre (1,800 ha) reservoir on the Pecos River.[38]
Ute Lake State Park | Quay | 1,500  | 610 | 3,900  | 1,200 | 1964 | Adjoins an 8,200-acre (3,300 ha) reservoir on the Canadian River.[39]
Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park | Colfax |  |  | 8,500  | 2,600 | 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.[40]
Villanueva State Park | San Miguel | 1,600  | 650 | 5,600  | 1,700 | 1967 | Preserves a red sandstone canyon on the Pecos River.[41]

## See also

[edit]

* List of National Parks of the United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Bottomless Lakes State Park Management and Development Plan" (PDF). Retrieved February 9, 2011.
2. ^ a b New Mexico State Parks Division. "New Mexico State Parks". Retrieved February 8, 2011.
3. ^ New Mexico State Parks Division: Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (2010). "Cimarron Canyon State Park Management Plan 2010" (PDF). New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 8, 2011.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. ^ a b All data come from respective New Mexico State Parks Division webpage unless otherwise noted.
5. ^ All data come from respective state park management plans unless otherwise noted.
6. ^ "Bluewater Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
7. ^ New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources. "NMBGMR Geologic Tour: Bottomless Lakes State Park".
8. ^ "Brantley Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
9. ^ "Caballo Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
10. ^ "Cerrillos Hills State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
11. ^ "Cimarron Canyon State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
12. ^ "City of Rocks State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
13. ^ "Clayton Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
14. ^ "Conchas Lake State Park Management Plan 2010" (PDF). New Mexico State Parks Division - Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. 2010.
15. ^ "Conchas Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
16. ^ "Coyote Creek State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
17. ^ "Eagle Nest Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
18. ^ "Elephant Butte Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
19. ^ "El Vado Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
20. ^ "Fenton Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
21. ^ "Heron Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
22. ^ "Hyde Memorial State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
23. ^ "Leasburg Dam State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
24. ^ "Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
25. ^ "Manzano Mountains State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
26. ^ "Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
27. ^ "Morphy Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
28. ^ "Navajo Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
29. ^ "Oasis State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
30. ^ "Oliver Lee Memorial State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
31. ^ "Pancho Villa State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
32. ^ "Percha Dam State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
33. ^ "Rio Grande Nature Center State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
34. ^ "Rockhound State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
35. ^ "Santa Rosa Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
36. ^ "Storrie Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
37. ^ "Sugarite Canyon State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
38. ^ "Sumner Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
39. ^ "Ute Lake State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
40. ^ "Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
41. ^ "Villanueva State Park". New Mexico State Parks. Retrieved February 9, 2011.

## External links

[edit]

* New Mexico State Parks Division
* New Mexico State Parks Foundation

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