Villanueva State Park

How to Get There

To get to Villanueva  State Park from Las Vegas, take I-25 south for 23 miles to exit 323, and then go 15 miles south on NM 3.

Villanueva State Park is a charming riverside park nestled in a canyon of red and yellow sandstone cliffs near a picturesque Spanish-colonial village of Villanueva. Towering cottonwoods and a variety of other native trees and shrubs add additional color to the landscape.

The park’s adobe-style picnic shelters were designed and grouped to resemble a Spanish hamlet, similar to those that existed in the area in earlier times. A footbridge gives hikers access to trails leading along the river to other sites.

The park has two maintained hiking trails. The Canyon Trail is a 2.5-mile loop from the river to the top of the canyon and back to the river. Hikers cross a bridge over the Pecos River and turn south, heading gradually up the canyon wall. The trail gives good views down to the river, and also has two interpretive signs part way up the side of the canyon. 

One discusses ruins of a nineteenth-century Spanish colonial threshing floor, used in processing grain. The other describes the Texas/Santa Fe expedition of 1841, which passed through this area.

Fishing in the Pecos River is best from fall through spring, when the river is stocked with rainbow trout, and German brown trout. The river is open to canoeing whenever the water level is high enough.

Facilities include:

• Visitor Center
• Group Shelter
• Developed Sites (31)
• Electric Sites (12)
• RV Dump Station
• Restrooms
• Showers
• Playground

Activities:

• Camping
• Picnicking
• Fishing
• Trails
• Wildlife Viewing

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