Grindstone Lake was one of our favorite parts of visiting Ruidoso! I know there are other lakes…read morenearby, but this one is definitely a must-see. You pay per vehicle, and you can bring your own chairs, food, fishing gear, kayaks, or anything else you want for a fun day by the water. There are a few benches, but they fill up quickly, so I'd recommend bringing your own chairs. The inflatable water park was the highlight for our kids! Life jackets are provided, and they had an absolute blast. They couldn't stop talking about all the fun they had. There's also a restroom on-site, which made our visit even more convenient. We had such a great time and would absolutely come back!

We came out yesterday, and had a wonderful time. So much so, that we came out again today! ‍…read more Bring shade! A tent, umbrella, some type of protection from the hot sun, because it is !! Parking is $10, by reservation only, on the weekends, and Monday-Thursday is first come first served, but also $10. If you have an established residence, second home, it's $10 for the entire season. Ignore the ticket taker's attitude as you drive in. We have been here three times, morning, and evening, and she's always here! Lol! She is extremely rude! She evidently hates her job because she is unfriendly and grills everyone to the third degree! Like I said, ignore her, and have fun! Registration is online at the Ruidoso Parks and Recreation website. The water park, known as The Wibit, is $20. This is a main attraction for family-fun. Life vests are required at all times while swimming, and using the water park, but they rent you one as part of the $20. Food and drinks are allowed, but of course, no alcohol is ever permitted. We most definitely will be returning, and highly recommend it!

We were visiting for the week and discovered this park. Far enough off the main road and completely…read morefenced in, clean and well maintained. It had two separate areas for the older kiddos and the littles. A bathroom nearby was handy. The elk roaming nearby was an added bonus. The munchkins all had a blast while their parents shopped in town. Just don't end up trying to enter from the wrong direction if it's time for the neighboring school to let out.

Great park for kids of all ages. Hidden gem. Elk grazing the area too. Easy to accessread more

Beautiful views! The city really works hard to keep it clean. They even have fireplaces available…read morefor use. Plenty of parking and they even have an ice skating rink.

Wingfield Park in Ruidoso is a great place to bring your entire family to enjoy the seasonal ice…read moreskate rink! The trees are all decorated for the Christmas season and will delight all! Highly recommended, and most staff follow safety procedures and protocols. Pets are allowed, but must be leashed at all times.

A fun spot to come visit, with hike-able mountains near by, that overlook the Lincoln National…read moreForest You go up about 3 hills Murals painted throughout the area Can get to the last hilltop in about an hour if you're not stopping too long Was worth the visit, but there's only so many circles with dots in the middle that I can have fun admiring in a hike

This certainly isn't for everyone, but if you like outdoors and hiking, check this out. Certainly…read moregrab a bottle of water and the sunscreen. The views of the surrounding areas at the top of the hills is impressive. BTW, shout out to the worker who suggested we stop at The Owl in San Antonio, NM. Thank you!

White Sands is worth the visit…read more Wasn't sure what to expect, But it was definitely a fun stop on a road trip. Be sure to bring a sled. I think they may offer rentals, but didn't see. They do have sled waxing though, which will definitely help We found the biggest sand dune, with the steepest way down. I'm still covered in sand, in places I didn't know sand could get into

White Sands National Park was absolutely worth the drive from Ruidoso! As soon as we arrived, we…read morewere blown away by the views. The bright white sand is unlike anything we've ever seen--it's absolutely beautiful! You pay per vehicle to enter, and I highly recommend bringing plenty of cold drinks, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a sled or something to slide down the dunes with. The sun feels much stronger out there, so don't underestimate it! They also have restrooms available, which was very convenient. If you're visiting New Mexico, White Sands is definitely a must-see. It was one of the highlights of our trip!

Beautiful, quiet park with clean camping facilities. Has restrooms and showers. Great sleeping in…read morethe Chihuahua desert. Close proximity to White Sands and Los Alamos. There is the Dog Canyon trail, which is worth the trek. We didn't make it all the way through due to timing, but will definitely be back to finish.

Quiet and spacious campground for star gazing and close to White Sands NP. We would definitely stay…read morehere again. Friendly camp hosts. They also have sleds to borrow at the camp host station for sledding the dunes at White Sands.

Fantastic place to watch the 4th of July fireworks display in Roswell, NM. There is a little bit…read moreof traffic driving in and out of the park before and after, but it isn't too bad. There is a giant field you can bring blankets and lawn chairs to watch the field on, OR you can stay in the gravel parkinglot and watch from there. The view in the open sky from the park is spectacular. I stayed in the gravel parkinglot because I was also lighting fireworks which is another plus to being there. A ton of people who attend bring their own fireworks and they are lighting them off before and after the show. The fireworks display at Cielo Grande park is also known to be Roswell's biggest fireworks display. Definitely come here to watch fireworks if you are in town for the 4th of July!

*BEWARE!!!!!! The GM…read moreKen Marlatt is letting this once great mountain with so much potential rot away. It seems he only wants to make money ripping off unsuspecting tourists and making it unaffordable for locals and even lots of tourist. Ski Apache price increase is unfair for the product they offer. I asked on social media a few times (Facebook) why the increase only to be blocked from viewing the page entirely. Seems very unfair/shady of them to do this for asking a simple question. I've never seen any other ski resorts block customers for asking questions like "why the price increase of $60-105 this season." *Some things for people to know before going* -Prices have gone up almost 100% up to $195 for peak days. It's $150-160 non peak days. Today Thursday 2/12/26 is $195 but last season this same Thursday before Presidents' Day was $90. -Thursday's are now considered weekend day pricing and no weekday pricing is options are available anymore. -Since 2020 they stopped operating Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (besides Christmas and Spring break week) which is greatly hurting all the local ski shops. If you can rent from the local shops and help them out they awesome staffing that care about you having a good day. -With this increase you would expect on mountain improvements but nothing has happened besides the "snow factory" machine that only makes snow for a small section of easy street. They also think they can use tarps like RUKA and LEVI in Finland do to solve the lack of snow/warm wet build temps when they can't make snow but don't have anywhere near the same snowmaking capacity like those resorts have. -Snowmaking from the summit/gondola including midway lift 2 is Inoperative and no plans to fix it for future lean snow years. They also haven't made snow off Capitan quad (chair 4) the last couple seasons so it seems that area is headed toward being INOP too. Basically snowmaking is limited to chair 3&5 only (the small beginner chairlifts) this is where they put the expensive operating Snow factory machine. -I'll also add Elk Ridge quad (chair 8) terrain has no snowmaking anymore but the whole area has been abandoned for over a decade including the Elk lodge with also no plans to reopen or fix the area. -Chairlifts don't seem to be properly maintained like seat cushion that are ripped on most chairs outside of 3&5 especially on Chair 2. -They are always short staff and GM Ken Marlatt stopped/wont allow an employee bus to operate to save money so less staff is showing up making operations a nightmare and chairlifts not being able to operate regularly. -staffing issues go into the lodge also like no bartenders sometimes (no bartender on 2/7/26) and bathrooms have most stall broken. Usually only 2-3 work out of 7. -The other bathrooms at the top of chair 6 Apache bowl and Moonshine Burger& Bar restrooms have been abandoned and are covered in rat droppings. -Under GM Ken Marlatt leadership staff doesn't seem safely properly trained especially with children on chairlifts (unfortunately a child lost their life this season Jan2026 due to this). -MTB trails haven't been raked/maintained since 2020 and just to ride the gondola for sightseeing cost $65. -Zero Terrain park features. No rails/boxes since 2019 and no jumps since 2020. The mountain is so beautiful and has so much potential. It's a shame to see what has now become of it since GM Ken Marlatt took over. They should look into someone else to run it before it's too late. MCP with James Coleman might make a good option. I'd recommend Cloudcroft, Sandia, Angel fire, Ski Santa Fe, Taos, Pajarito Mountain or Sipipu as other more reliable and safer options for NM skiing. If you would love to enjoy a Native American run ski area I would recommend looking in Sunrise Park Resort operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Eastern Arizona. They have been making improvements to the mountain while offering fair lift ticket prices ranging from $25-$99. They will listen to any complaint especially on social media and try the best they can to improve on that. Maybe Ski Apache can learn from them instead of deleting/blocking anyone that criticizes their operations on social media. I've attached a photo of the bathroom at Moonshine Bar with RAT DROPPINGS! from this season 25/26. Apparently the bathroom at the top of Apache Bowl is a lot worse. This shows you what has become of the mountain under GM Ken Marlatt's leadership. Unfortunately due all this and now being blocked on social media (never seen a ski area block people on social media for asking why lift ticket prices increased dramatically this year) I won't spend any more money here and I'm a avid loyal skier here. I wish the best for them and hope they listen to this review as I would love to ski at SKI Apache and see it become the great mountain it use to be. Unfortunately it's just getting worse every year with GM Ken Marlatt's leadership.

This was my first time skiing & I honestly had so much fun here! There's levels for starters and…read moremore advance levels but I stayed in the beginners hehe. It's super cold here but with thermal wear it was much better ! The view going up was beautiful! I don't know how to add videos here but it was breathtaking! It takes a little bit of time going up but it's worth it! The place had clean restrooms and a restaurant at the top of you get hungry but you can also bring your own food and kind of picnic at the tables there instead of buying food. The skiing was so fun here & I recommend it

I went camping here years ago with friends. We weren't smart and got in after dark and had a heck…read moreof a time trying to put tents up. There are some nice hiking areas around here.

We have been coming here for years and never have we ever been treated like we did this past…read moreweekend by the camp hosts. We had called and spoke to the owner to see if we could check in a bit early and be was completely ok with it. When we got there the camp host was extremely rude saying we were there too early being that no one was in our spot and there were so many other empty spots available. we then had our campfire on and eight at 10 she came and advised it was quiet time and the fire needed to be turned off due to "county law" which is complete BS mind you we were not even loud we were just hanging out and there are zero rules staring that fires need to be out at 10. The next night she again came rudely 3 minutes past 10 when we were already putting our fire out stating "REALLY 2 NIGHTS IN A ROW!!" we said we are putting our fire out and she said "well get your clocks fixed to be on time". we pay a lot of money to enjoy our time there. I feel the owner needs to look into this because the campground was not as full as it usually is and they may be running people out with that unnecessary attitude and rudeness.

Prior to reaching the Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, NM, we sat in traffic for…read moreabout a half hour due to heavy law enforcement presence due to what? I never found out. We stopped only for a moment to view the black lava flow that covered vast amounts of the surrounding area. It's fascinating. There were quite a lot of RV campers at the sites. Here's a quick overview I compiled: + camp host on-site + 20 RV campsites have 30 and 50 amp electrical hookups and water hookups + the above includes 2 RV sites that are accessible + group shelters + picnic shelters + tables + trashcans + BBQ grills + restrooms (also with accessibility) + showers (non-campers may use these for a fee of $6) + RV dump station + leashed dogs allowed + 3/4 mile Malpais Nature Trail "offers a close-up look of the lava surface." + visitor center, bookstore & gift shop available Hopefully someday sooner than later I'll be back to exhaustively explore this remote side of New Mexico. Works Cited https://www.blm.gov/visit/valley-fires-recreation-area

This was a neat experience. Seeing volcanic rock and the nature that has grown up was certainly…read moreinteresting. The walkway provided made it easy to navigate the area, and there were some great views.