CITY OF ROCKS STATE PARK, NM

28 March, 2004. We've been forgetting to date our entries but we began our trip at Lake Mead, NV on March 1, 2004. We'll try to keep the entries dated from now on. City of Rocks State Park was a nice surprise. In the middle of nowhere lies this outcropping of rocks. Wind and weather have carved the volcanic rocks into rows of massive monoliths (approximately 20 to 50 feet high). There are 52 campsites (10 of which are electric- the most boring in the park). Most of the other 42 sites are embedded within the rocks. If you like to climb around on rocks- this is the place. You can walk up into the rock and travel from one end of the park to the other with little effort. There are lots of little passages and balancing rocks throughout the park. There is a visitors center and the very friendly host there will insist that you sign the guestbook. There was a guy making arrowheads at the time and there's even a hands-on display of some antlers, bones, etc. They offer a free video about the park but we didn't watch it because we were too tired fighting the wind on the way in. New Mexico is Very Windy, and our microbus does not like the wind. There were apparently rattlesnakes abound but fortunately, we didn't encounter any here either. There is also a short scenic drive that overlooks the park. It got really cold at night but we encounter that almost everywhere we stay in the desert. No phone or internet signal.