After Saguaro National Park, we drove to the state of enchantment, New Mexico, at night and stayed at the border town of Lordsburg.
The plan was to start driving next day morning towards White Sands National Monument.
While browsing through the google map, we noticed a few green areas. We knew about Gila National Monument, and had read about it. That place was purposefully skipped since we decided to go to Bandelier National Monument instead. The decision was purely based on the shortage of time. Otherwise, Gila is also supposed to be very nice.
City of Rocks was almost on the way to White Sands National Monument with a small detour. The drive took us through Silver City, a small historic town in the region known for copper mining. We throughly enjoyed driving through small villages.
When you get off the highway, there is a short section of dirt road and regular cars can drive through.
Known for the steeple rocks, this small silent city offers hiking, biking, rock climbing and camping opportunities. The visitor center is also pretty well kept with flush toilets. As you get into camping area, there are portable toilets.
Popular among locals, these camp sites quickly fill up during weekends and holidays. We didn’t get to camp here as we were just passing by.
But, we did stop to enjoy the picnic benches for lunch after running around & getting lost in the city.
There were lot of kids happily climbing these rocks and jumping around. Only thing to watch out are the rattle snakes. They claim the territory on a warm day.
But locals seem to know how to handle the snakes. I was on the edge the entire time.
Other than that, we thought the park was a great find given that we were in New Mexico to appreciate the landscape it has to offer.