New Mexico Parks and Recreation Areas with Wildlife Watching

El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area was established in 1987 and is a relative newcomer to the National Park System. This monument preserves 114,277 acres of which 109,260 acres are federal and 5,017 acres are private. El Malpais means the badlands but contrary to its name this unique area holds many surprises, many of which researchers are now unraveling. Volcanic features such as lava flows, cinder cones, pressure ridges and complex lava tube systems dominate the landscape. Closer inspection reveals unique ecosystems with complex relationships. Sandstone bluffs and mesas border the eastern side, providing access to vast wilderness. read more...

Phone: 505-285-4641   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Grants   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Rock Climbing, Wildlife Watching, Camping, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: El Malpais National Monument

Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and several thousand ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier also includes over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness. The best-known archeological sites, in Frijoles Canyon near the Visitor Center, were inhabited from the 1100s into the mid-1500s, and earlier groups had used the area for thousands of years. read more...

Phone: (505) 672-3861   Price Range: $0 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Los Alamos   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Birding, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Camping   Details Provided By: Bandelier

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s. The surroundings probably look today very much like they did when the cliff dwellings were inhabited. It is surrounded by the Gila National Forest and lies at the edge of the Gila Wilderness, the nation's first designated wilderness area. This designation means that the wilderness character of the area will not be altered by the intrusion of roads or other evidence of human presence. read more...

Phone: (505) 536-9461   Price Range: $3 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Silver City   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Wildlife Watching, Camping, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Gila Cliff Dwellings

Mammoths, giant bison, and short-faced bears were witness to the first tremblings of the earth and firework-like explosions of molten rock thousands of feet into the air. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the rain of cooling cinders and four lava flows formed Capulin Volcano, a nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone, rising more than 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape. Although long extinct, Capulin Volcano is dramatic evidence of the volcanic processes that shaped northeastern New Mexico. read more...

Phone: (505) 278-2201   Price Range: $3 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Capulin   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Capulin Volcano