Driving south to our next destination in southwest New Mexico we passed one of the largest utility sized photovoltaic solar power plants we’ve seen. This was out in the middle of the desert.

As we got closer to the mountain passes we came across another wind turbine farm. When there is enough wind to blow the RV around you will soon see a wind farm.

This stop at City of Rocks State Park was another unplanned, no reservation stop for a few nights. Pulling in to the park, we drove around to survey the different sites. The site that offered the best views and was somewhat private was in the primitive camping area, no electricity and  a common water spigot for this side of the park. That worked out great for us with the solar panels.

As we set up and checked out the area we had a visit from a great horned owl.

And an annoying ground squirrel…

The unique rock formations at the City of Rocks are the result of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago that was 1,000 times more powerful than Mount St. Helens. This deposited deep layers of ash that solidified and then was eroded by wind and water to form the “city”.

Several of the rock pillars had cavities eroded out and we could see a large bird nest inside, maybe an owl’s or an eagle’s.

The park has an extensive 7.5 mile hiking and biking trail system that runs through the park and around the perimeter of the park. There are also lots of goat thorns present that will rip your bike tires, so we hiked the trails and left the bikes behind. It seems that most of the plant life in the desert will either stick or stab you if you’re not careful!

The desert scenery was beautiful to explore and the sunsets were spectacular. This area has some of the darkest night skies and the stars really light-up the night.

Happy Trails!