City of Rocks State Park

State Park On A One Square Mile Field Of Volcanic Tuff Monoliths Up To 40 Feet Tall, Welded From Ash Erupted By The Emory Caldera About 35 Million Years Ago; Campsites Are Placed Among The Rocks Themselves · Faywood, New Mexico

About 35 million years ago the Emory caldera erupted and laid down a sheet of ash so hot it welded itself into rock, and erosion has since carved a square mile of it into columns, blocks and lanes that look from a distance like a ruined town. The state park is built into that: the campsites are placed among the rocks themselves, each one tucked into its own alcove with a boulder for a windbreak, which makes it one of the more distinctive places to sleep in the Southwest. Between the monoliths there are gravel lanes wide enough to walk and narrow enough to get pleasantly lost in, and the surrounding desert holds a botanic garden of Chihuahuan species. It sits at 5,200 feet in the middle of nowhere between Deming and Silver City, which gives it very dark skies and a small public observatory. It is a regional favourite rather than a destination, and it is graded accordingly - a place New Mexicans drive to for a weekend rather than one anyone crosses a state line for.

327 NM Highway 61, Faywood, Faywood, New Mexico, 88034, United States

Open all year, day and night, with a day-use fee collected at a self-service station. The visitor centre keeps daytime hours and is closed on some holidays. Campgrounds operate year round; the sites among the rocks are first come first served and the developed sites with hookups can be reserved. The observatory on site runs public star parties on announced evenings, mostly around the new moon in the warmer months.

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