City of Rocks State Park

About 35 miles from Deming, is the City of Rocks State Park.

These rocks were formed by a violent eruption of volcanic pumice, ash, and hot gas that occurred 34.9 million years ago. This eruption was 1000 times greater than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, if you can imagine that. That's the visitor's center in the middle of the picture to give you an idea of the size of the rocks.

Because the volcanic material was very hot when it was deposited, the volcanic fragments compacted to form this dense rock.

Freeze-thaw action, wind, and the effects of vegetation continue to erode the rocks. If you come back here in several million years, the City of Rocks may just be a plain!
As I walked through these rocks, I got a nice view out onto the desert with mountains in the distance.

If you can live without hookups, the campsites are located amongst the rocks, and are spectacular. Notice the picnic table under the tree for this campsite.

What a great state park this was. So far, I've been favorably impressed with the state parks in New Mexico. I'm thinking I'll have to come back to this state and take advantage of a couple of months camping in the state park system.

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I'm going to check the weather forecast for tomorrow and Friday. I'll pick the best day to journey to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It seems to be warming a little. I was able to hook up the water connection again today since the low overnight should remain above freezing.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy