Where do you go in the winter in an RV? South like the birds to warmer weather!
Our first stop as we officially began our route to the east in 2022 was Rockhound State Park in southern New Mexico near the town of Deming. As the name might suggest, Rockhound is one of only two parks in the US that allow you to search for and take away (a small number) of rock treasures. At Rockhound the prizes are geodes and thundereggs but the also have jasper, agates, opals and other semi-precious stones in the rocky washes above the campground.
The campground here is clean and has everything you need to stay a few weeks (water and electrical hook up plus a place to dump full tanks). We only stayed a couple of nights (cuz that’s how we travel).
There is one short trail from the campground that loops around in the foothills and provides access to a couple of the designated dig areas. Doug gave it a shot but didn’t return with any spectacular finds.
Just a short drive from the campground takes you to the south unit of the park with access to the rugged Florida Mountain Range with several 6,000 foot peaks and a resident herd of Persian Ibyx wild goats that were brought to the area from Iran in 1970.
We took the Lover’s Leap Canyon Trail which climbs 757 ft. up a wooded ravine amongst otherwise bare desert slopes. The 1.6 mile round trip hike provided the perfect opportunity to try out the new hiking boots I got for the holidays – and also provided panoramic views of the surrounding New Mexico desert from the top of a saddle ridge. We even encountered a brief snowfall during the hike that didn’t stick but made it feel like we were inside a snowglobe!
All-in-all it was a great first stop on our southern snowbird route.
