red rock park

What a wonderful time we had exploring Red Rock Park from the air and from the ground. The Balloon Rally at this park is totally beautiful...brilliant blue skies, red rock canyons, and colorful hot air balloons. The weather was awesome this year. It has been very cold other years. I want to return in the spring or fall and hike more of the trails. Very nice camp ground too with running water and showers!

Here is the link to maps, with GPS coordinates, for Churck Rock and Pyramid Rock trails prepared by the Albuquerque Senior Centers Hiking Groups:http://www.aschg.org/jsp/hike.jsp?id=H10421No shade, so hiking in the dog days of summer is not recommended. Intermediate difficulty. I think elevations range from 6000' to 7000'. Flatlanders may do some huffing and puffing.

A beautiful place to camp. Has full hook ups and shower rooms. The hiking is spectacular, but not and easy stroll. There are rocks to climb. The day we were there there were hot air balloons landing there. What a great view! There are two hiking trails...and also a post office.

The Red Rock Park campground is very nice with large trees. The gravel sites were fair size, with water and power. The bathrooms were well maintained; 2 dump sites were available. All for only $20 per night. The campground was mostly empty when we were there, so I am not sure what it would be like with full occupancy. Easy access from town and amenities. Ther was some train noise, but not very loud. I would definitely stay here again.

I camped here with my Girl Scout Troop. The location is beautiful and I thought it was quiet at night. (I am used to trains, so they don't bother me at all, but I didn't hear any at all.) Probably the loudest thing in the park this night were the girls in my troop. The camp did not have any posted quiet hours that I saw, but I guessed it was 10.It was not easy to register here. I called twice and left messages asking for camping information, but did not receive a call back. The message says that there is an after hours number, but when I called there I also did not receive an answer. Finally I got a hold of someone in the office who said that it costs $20 to camp with water and electricity, $10 without. We were the only tent there the night we camped, but there were at least 10 RVs. It is not easy to figure out where to register. The signage is bad. It you arrive before 4 on a weekday, drive past the turn off for the campground to the convention area. Walk through the opening in the wall- best way I can think of to describe it- and you will see doors. They are labeled either camp office or museum. Register with a person there who will give you a key to the bathroom. Otherwise select the camp site you want and wait until a person from the city finds you to register at your site. I guess you have to wait until they show up to get the bathroom key, so I suggest using the bathroom before you arrive. Bathrooms are ok. They are not as nice as KOA bathrooms, but they seemed clean and had toilet paper, paper towels, and soap. I imagine they do run out, so bring your own to be prepared. They do have showers as well.The City of Gallup website offers information about this campground, but I did not think it was helpful at all.The scenery is beautiful here. It has been raining a lot, so there was no dust blowing in the air, but I imagine there would be if it were dry, especially in the spring, when this area gets a lot of wind. There were not grills at the campsites. Some had picnic tables, which were quite nice, but not all. The fire pits were strange and really old. This campground could use some renovation.

I'd rate this hike very high. It has all the components, such as: great scenery, easy to follow trail, awesome rock formations, and the added element of being able to scale directly up steep slickrock or other type to really make the route interesting. Plus tons of perches along the way and a few "look over the edge" scary moments. Very pleasantly pleased, especially since I thought my trip here would be all business.

We came to Red Rock on the last days of this event and enjoyed the rodeo, the performances by various Native groups, the vendors and some fabulous artwork as well as some ordinary jewelry, the Museum and the powwow. The facilities were well maintained and clean and the food available was very good - Navajo taco, fried bread and so on. It was very hot and there is no shade at the rodeo grandstands. You definitely need an umbrella but then some people are so selfish they erect their own shade in the way of others' view of the arenas. The Rocks themselves are magnificent, looming up in a pink/beige sort of redness, and the American and Navajo flags are flying on the rock face above the Park.

A clarification: this used to be managed by New Mexico State Park System, but is no longer a state park...even though you will still see highway signs calling it that. It's now a Gallup city park. Consequently there is very little in the way of facilities or services for hikers or campers who are just "dropping in."As we did on our way to Gallup, thanks to one of those outdated highway signs! We found gigantic parking lots, and walked and wandered around until we finally found the (completely unsigned) entrance to the museum, which is on the backside of the building. As someone noted previously, the only woman working in an office continued her phone conversation while we stood patiently waiting to be acknowledged, and eventually she turned to us and said "Can I help you with something?"She seemed very surprised that we had found our way in, and had no information to offer regarding trails or anything else about the park. So we roamed the museum, which was VERY interesting, and also went outside where we eventually deduced on our own that this was the rodeo and Intertribal pow wow grounds we had read about in the Tony Hillerman mysteries! (Of which we are both fans.)Had we known what to expect, it might not have been quite as much fun to figure it all out.

I was impressed by the nearness of this trail to my home in Gallup. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out the trail head as the signage is lacking, which is also a problem on the trail itself. I think I figured it out and hiked the Pyramid Trail, but there was no way to be sure. On a Saturday evening I passed two families that had been unable to find the Pyramid Trail, but everyone had fun exploring anyways. The trail I took, if it is the Pyramid, split off from the main trail at the end of the box canyon and you can tell it by the steps carved into the rock face you have to climb. Not a good trail for little children or those with physical challenges, but it was only 3 miles round trip and truly beautiful. Next time I'll go I'll do some trail running.

A little tough to find the trail head, but once we found it, the hike was awesome; very few other people there and scenery is nothing less than stunning!!

Not a great place for tent camping. All the sites are on fine sand that gets into everything. Bright lights all through the campsites all night long. A very seedy looking subdivision just outside the park gate. Trains about a quarter mile away run ALL night about 20 minutes apart...not extremely loud but I awoke at each passing. Showers were hot, but old and somewhat dingy. As a day park, this place is fine.

We arrived at Red Rock STATE Park (just east of Gallup, NM) not knowing that we would find a great hike there. The trailhead was not easy to find, but spoke to someone in the small museum who pointed the way. It was fun for us and our dogs who were allowed there on leashes. Saw only 2 other hikers on the trail and almost noone in the other areas.

Simply amazing how large one unbroken expanse of stone can be. And the morning sun illuminates the stone in an amazing display.Stayed in the campground portion of the park for a one-night stay. Clean, level sites. Easy access (within a mile) to I-40. Be sure to visit the Indian museum at this facility.

Each year Run For The Wall stoops in Gallup and is greeted by the citizens and entertained by the local tribes. This includes the famed "Code Talkers" from WW2. This year we met at Red Rock Park and it was a great venue. Nestled against the cliffs it ws just really nice and we all enjoyed being there.

My fiance and I go here to hike/excerise. Love the view from the rocks.