Spring Canyon State Park isn’t a place you stumble upon. To be fair, there are several signs for it in the Deming, New Mexico area, but you won’t, say, accidentally find yourself there. The closest place to it is Rockhound State Park, known for its interesting geology.
I haven’t been able to find a lot about the history of this park, but judging by the signage and the setup, I wonder if it used to either a) have a visitor’s center or b) allow tent campers. In any case, there isn’t much to it. Be aware it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and if you’ve got questions about it, visit the Rockhound visitor’s center and ask them.
But when you start following the the road to Spring Canyon, it’s a wild ride. Literally. The extremely steep ups and downs of the road felt like a roller coaster and the cell service disappeared…and I was treated to some of the best views I’ve seen in New Mexico. When I arrived and drove in, I got ready to hike.
Everything I had read made it sound like Lovers’ Leap was the best of the two trails – the other may actually not exist anymore. I’m not especially in shape, but I figured I could handle the trail, described as moderate with steep grades.
As you can see, I was rewarded for my efforts with gorgeous views. I had to take frequent breaks and watch my footing extremely carefully, but I’d absolutely do it again. The trail gets hot but there’s a really nice mix of trees where you can seek shade along the path.
I highly recommend bringing plenty of water and snacks on the trail, of course, and I’d also recommend visiting for a picnic. There are lots of picnic tables with charcoal grills and the views are really fantastic.
I highly recommend a visit. And if you need a nearby campground, consider Rockhound State Park, especially if you can skip great internet or cell service. It’s got two great trails of its own and a nice setup.
Temperatures are warming up here, hitting the 80’s most days. It’s a little warm but the nights are cooler and we’re really enjoying it.
Thanks for reading!
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During my visit, I lucked into watching a hawk feed its family. Absolutely an incredible sight. I was also pleasantly surprised to have a pretty excellent cell signal (3 bars on T-Mobile, good enough for high-quality streaming on my phone). There are two campground areas – one area is with the rocks, boondocking, and the other area offers hookups. To be perfectly honest, I felt the area with hookups wasn’t too appealing. Sites are very close together and don’t have much privacy. But if you’re able to boondock for a few nights, I highly recommend it here. Due to the height of the rocks, the sites offer a ton of privacy and space, with incredible views and a truly unique experience camped among the rock formations.
New Mexico’s state parks are an incredible and affordable resource. A day pass is only $5/car and will get you into multiple parks in a day, which is especially helpful in this area if you just want to drive through them or make quick visits. But an annual pass (day use) is only $40, making it extremely affordable.
very thankful I finally had the chance to visit City of Rocks. It’s an other-worldly experience that I highly recommend.
It was also a good reminder of why I escaped NH – in major part, the weather!
State and national parks especially can get really competitive if you want to stay on site! I recently wrote an article for Outdoorsy on this subject.
Crafting The Life You Want: A Practice in Living 