Valley of Fires

After Taos, we headed to Valley of Fires Recreation Area in Carrizozo. Here we were greeted by stunning views, a walk through black lava fields, and lots of wind. This place is definitely worth a stop, even if you just walk the path through the lava field.

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From the hilltop observation point you can see our trailer with the lava fields to the left.
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Looking south from the start of the lava trail toward the observation hill.
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These ropey strands of lava rock have a special Hawaiian name that I can’t remember. 🙂

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Looking back up from the trail you can see out great spot on the ridge. 
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The clouds and sun made for dramatic views.
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We had views of the lava field right out our windows!
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The clouds made for a spectacular sunset!

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Since we had been moving around quite a bit we opted to stay in our awesome site instead of moving closer to the other places we wanted to explore. This meant about an hour’s drive to White Sands National Monument but it was a beautiful day so it wasn’t bad.

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This is one of those beautiful national park buildings. It was built by the WPA in the late 1930s from adobe bricks covered with stucco.

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After a few miles you are driving right on the sand.

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We enjoyed walking barefoot in the dunes. The sand is super soft and it was cool and damp even though it was around 80 degrees out.

Another day we drove 45 minutes to Three Rivers Petroglyph Recreation Site. They have over 21,000 petroglyphs that were chipped into the rock over 600 years ago. They are so cool that it took us forever to hike the 1.5 mile trail. By the time we came back down we were the only car left in the parking lot!

This was such a cool area that we will have to come back. After all we missed the Smokey the Bear Museum and gravesite. Yes, there was an actual Smokey the Bear and he was from New Mexico. Who knew?

 

2 thoughts on “Valley of Fires”

  1. What a great place to camp! Love those campgrounds with great views! How did we miss such a spectacular place in New Mexico? Love the petroglyphs. Thanks for the tour!

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