Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park

This small but well maintained park is perfect for families and definitely worth a stop! The ranger was amazing and went out of his way to make our visit to the park magical.We loved the exhibition hall where all all of the exhibits were hands on including a sand table where kids can make impressions from cast animal prints and the touch table where rangers had set our objects found on the trail for kids to hold and handle (today was mesquite pods, a rodent skeleton, cactus fruits, feathers, a birds nest, and shells). There were also scavenger hunt pages specific to the park to make the hikes fun for kids.The upland trail was the perfect post meal walk for our family (4 year old and 7 year old), if we'd come in the cool of the morning or evening we might have gone for both loops. Even if you're not up for a hike the garden and bird blind behind the visitors center are worth the trip. There are a beautiful variety of plants from the park with labels and rangers put out water to attract animals to the garden. In just a few minutes we saw cottontail rabbits, two kinds of lizards, a family of quail, and many many birds - some of which a friendly ranger helped us identify.

I enjoyed the Upland and Resaca trails. The fall colors of the grasses and variety of bird life was nice and I got lucky and saw a coyote with a morning meal of a rabbit in his mouth! Unfortunately the Rio Grande was not running so there were no views of the wet lands in mid October when I went and there were mosquitoes if you stopped walking. Go in the spring or when the river is running for the best experience.

The welcome center is the highlight of this park. It has many beautiful flowers in well kept gardens. The trails are less desirable. There are a few parts that walk along the Rio Grande, which is pretty, but most of the trails are not scenic at all. However, it did look like a lot of construction was going on to the park, so maybe improvements are on their way.

Came here for the birds but closed by 3:30 pm. The loose gravel road to get to the visitor center is a bit bumpy. There are no barriers on both sides. If it's by pitch dark, you can drive over the edge of the road that is about 10-15 feet high. The garden was dried up at this time if the year. Not very lushful. At least the parking lot has a nice view of the Organ Mountains.