villanueva state park

This is one of the better-kept secrets in northeastern New Mexico. It takes a few minutes to drive the lovely, curving road that follows the Pecos River Canyon to Villanueva, an old Spanish settlement at the base of a dramatic escarpment. A few more miles down the dead-end access road, past ranches and old adobe buildings, takes you to the park. Day use permits are only five dollars, and camping is available for tents and RVs alike. There is a hill-top camping area for the adventuresome as well. The hiking trails along and across the Pecos lead to many discovery-filled spots, and the views are glorious as you hike away from the campground.The loud and crazy crowd tends not to come here except on certain holiday weekends, and the facilities are complete and well-kept. There's a nice new playground for the kiddos. Sitting by the river and watching it flow by is plenty of entertainment if you are not up for a hike. Well worth the detour off I-25 or I-40.

DId a lot of research on where I wanted to go while my husband was in a conference in Albuquerque and decided on this state park for the hiking and photo ops! The hike up was not terrible but I wish I had hiking boots instead of tennis shoes. Did the Viewpoint Loop going up and when i got to the top it was so peaceful and quiet! I was here in October so there weren't any other hikers. The park rangers told me the hike down would be fairly simple and flat at times but they didn't tell me there would be some rock climbing involved! Either I missed part of the trail or you really do hike all the way down to the river and then have to navigate your way back to the bridge. Just be careful and watch your step! Breathtaking views and LOTS of photo ops!

I was westbound on I-25 planning on staying in Albuquerque for the night. Rather than staying on the interstate, I decided to take Highway 3 which runs 30 miles between I-25 and I-40. The road to the park is a series of curves and small towns (some dating back to the 18th century) with the speed limit 25-35 miles per hour in several places. The scenery is so beautiful and there is so much history that I made frequent stops before I even reached the park. The park was a pleasant surprise. Very few people were there when I visited on a weekday in early October. There is interesting history in the park to learn about including the fact Coronado came through the area in 1540 and this was a principal crossing on the Sante Fe Trail. The Pecos River was very dry, but the 400 foot sandstone cliffs rising up from the river were impressisve. I had hoped the scrub oaks and cottonwoods would be in their fall colors, but there was just a hint of color starting to appear. I was surprised at the array of wildflowers still blooming. The park has a visitor center along with camping, hiking and picnicking. I enjoyed my couple of hour visit and the scenery leading to the park. I felt I got my $5.00 worth.

The park ranger was a bit surprised when I said I was there strictly for hiking. I went on the Viewpoint Loop Trail and loved it! It's about 2 miles long and just enough of a work out for this slightly overweight, slightly out of shape person! You go up, be sure to look for the short staircase overlooking the view at the top, level out for a bit, walk thru sand and then hike down. Beware of loose rocks and steps that were a little treacherous. Took me about 2 hours which included lunch, photos and rest at the top. I also hiked the El Cerro Trail which is a little less than a mile. Steep incline at the start then it is a gentle climb to the overlook point. Much easier than Viewpoint Loop. Took me about 45 minutes to hike, including photos and a little exploring at the top. I went on a Monday. I saw no one else on the trails. It was very quiet, very peaceful and the views worth the hike. I did not stay the night but the campgrounds looked nice. Each campsite had a picnic table and at many, the tables were covered and surrounded on three sides by adobe or stone walls.

The park is very clean and the noise level is low. The park rangers were very nice and gave us lots of history about the area. Sad that the river has been so dry but we had a great time there anyway.

We were in space 19, in the lower campground, right on the Pecos River. This was a delightful State Park. We were there in May, on a weekday. Hardly anyone there. We were a bit concerned from other reviews we had read, about noise and partying, but it was quiet, I guess due to it being a weekday. Wildlife abounds on the trails, and a great trail system it is. The campsite was level (important for the RV fridge), clean, and there was even chopped firewood left for us (by a ranger, I presume), and we had a nice fire at night in the fire ring. The campground host was very friendly and informative, and opened the visitor center for us early, just because he thought we wanted an early look. Our adobe-looking shelter over the picnic bench in the space provided shade from the sun. This State Park is a wonderful spot, full of Spanish and Native American history, wildlife, trails, fishing, and friendly staff. I highly recommend it! The best spots need to be reserved online before arriving, especially on the weekends or peak seasons. However, we reserved ours in advance, and likely didn't need to. It's $10 extra to reserve online. Don't miss the Villanueva Village, On the way in, if you're taking the South road. It's like going back in time. The Upper Loop campground was completely empty during our stay.

We just bought a travel trailer and decided to travel about 100 miles from home for an overnight 'shake down' cruise. I've passed the exit to Villanueva on I-25 many times and finally decided to visit. Driving down from the north you pass wonderful Spanish villages with great character and history. The park itself was very clean, quiet and, this fall, with the cottonwoods in full color. The hiking is great and we found the host and rangers to be very engaging and friendly. Maybe it's too loud in summer, but fall is a great time to visit. We'll definitely be back.

The campground itself is beautiful, we have been there twice now in hopes that the first time was just a random occurrence of it being run chaotically, but the rangers and campground host do not enforce the campground rules during peak season, the noise and folks visiting are inconsiderate of others who have come to enjoy nature and not midnight screaming and music. The campground was completely full yesterday, some campsites were even being shared, yet nobody was turned down after all spots were taken and the next morning every possible grass area had RVs and tents on it, in possibly 10 areas that were not designated campsites, the "day use" area was being used as a campsite overnight, i.e. if folks were to just come for the day, they'd be out of luck, the toilets were completely unsanitary with no toilet paper due to the campground being at 4-5x its capacity. It would be a beautiful space if the rules were being observed and the quiet hours between 10-7 were being honored. If you want to rest though, go elsewhere or in offseason. If you enjoy all night noise though, go there in July.

Our first motorhome trip was to this New Mexico State Park. Located only about an hour from our home we decided that was the best choice for our first trip. The park was completely full when we arrived at 5:30 PM on a Friday evening. However, the upper campground El Cerro had been closed for the season and had it been open, there would have been room. The camp host was gracious enough to find us an undesignated place to park for the night, and was able to find us an official site the next day. The park has something for everyone, trails, a playground for the kids, the Pecos river for fly fishing, electrical and non electrical hookups, some with fire rings, showers and restrooms and a visitors center. Make reservations though if you can....it seems to be a very busy place. See site photos at www.campsitephotos.com and a detail of one of the trails at my site www.tripswithtwo.com

I can deal with and endure a lot of things. Sometimes, it is good to go back to the basics so you can appreciate the things you already have and taken for granted.I can sleep on the ground, on thin inflatable mattress. I can sleep with make shift pillow made from piled up dirty clothes. I can go without showering every day. I can deal with no TV, no radio, no stereo, no computer for days.I can even deal with some bugs and flies. But not a swarm of flies. And swarm of flies was what Villanueva State Park had when we stayed there in August 2011. We were planning to stay there two nights, but we cut it short to one. All because of the flies.I am not joking. Our camp site was invested with flies. See the pictures of my CRV tires. The flies seemed to like it. I was bitten by horse flies many times. We could not seem to keep flies out of our tent -- with the kids going in and out of it. In fact, we packed some home with us in our tent, because it was impossible to get them out of our tent. Yuck.Aside from the flies, the park offered a nice accessible river and a beautiful view. My kids had fun playing in the river. Had it not because of the flies, we would have had a much nicer time.