One of my favorite things about living in New Mexico is the abundance of wonderful spots to enjoy the outdoors. There are so many beautiful places to hike, camp, bike, climb, and paddle without passing the state line. This summer flew by and we did not get out as much as we would have liked, but we did try making up for it a little in August.
One weekend we went camping at Morphey Lake State Park just north of Las Vegas, NM, about 2.5 hours from Albuquerque. We went with some friends who have two kids and we all loved it! The park is in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and has a beautiful lake with campsites surrounding it.
We got in early on a Friday evening, set up camp, and let Jack play by the lake. He was so excited to throw rocks in the lake. He kept saying, "throw rocks in lake," the entire ride up there. Once it got dark we built a fire and made s'mores. This was Jack's first time to have a s'more, and he loved them!
The next morning we woke up, made breakfast, then went back down to the lake. Jack stayed down there all morning, throwing rocks in the lake, then walking in the lake and playing with the mud with his friends. He would have stayed there all day if we would have let him! All of the adults enjoyed sitting by the beautiful water and watching the kids have fun.
This is the perfect campground for a relaxing camping trip with beautiful scenery. You can enjoy time just sitting by the lake, paddling a canoe, or fishing. It was great with young kids, they all loved it.
Last weekend we drove up near Taos, about 2 hours from Albuquerque to spend the morning playing by the Rio Grande. We found a great spot at the County Line Access area run by the BLM just off highway 68 southwest of Taos. It's at mile marker 24.
We brought chairs, shovels and buckets, and spent our time watching Jack have fun in the water. This is also a popular spot for rafting groups to end their trips since there is a nice ramp, toilets, and picnic tables. We enjoyed watching these groups paddle down the river.
Afterward we drove into Taos, which was about 20-30 minutes from there. We planned on eating lunch there, but did not anticipate how crowded the town would be for Labor Day weekend. So we just spent a little time at Twirl Play Space which is one of our favorite spots in Taos. Jack loves playing there, and we love that it's free and has plenty of comfortable spots for parents to hang out and watch the kids! After that we headed back home, we were exhausted from a busy and fun day!
I loved both of these outings and look forward to many more adventures in the Land of Enchantment!
