Roswell UFO's and Bottomless Lakes

Location: Bottomless Lakes State Park (el 3,500 ft); Roswell, New Mexico

All pictures taken with Nokia Lumia Icon 929 Cell Phone

I left Cochiti Lake about 10:00 a.m. on the 16th with a 230 mile tow across some of the least populated and desolate area of New Mexico. Over a 100 mile stretch, I may have seen only a few dozen vehicles going in the same direction as me. The road condition was good and the weather was nice with the temperature in the mid 60's. Every so often you would see a gate going to a ranch but only rarely could you see the ranch house and buildings because they were so far away. Surprisingly, there were very few cows on the acreage. Actually, I saw more deer than cattle in that 100 mile stretch.

It was a nice sunset at Cochiti Lake the night before I left.

Desolate stretch of highway cutting through New Mexico. It had very little traffic and I wondered why it was four lane with such a low traffic count. Oh well. 

My destination was a state park located just east of Roswell, New Mexico. The state park is called Bottomless Lakes State Park. It is composed of a series of small circular lakes formed by sinkholes at the base of a limestone cliff. Lea Lake is the only one that allows swimming and is adjacent to the campground. The campground is not one of my most favorite but OK for the three days of my stay. It must be a super popular place for the locals during the summer months.

My campsite. Nice and level with full hookups.

Looking down on the campground and Lea Lake

Lea Lake, the only one that allows swimming

I was told by the camp host that some of the stone buildings were built by the CCC and WPA during the late 30's, but I wasn't able to confirm it. The quality of work does not look as good as some other CCC work that I've seen. The tall building on the left is a water tank that is no longer in service.

My stay here will only be long enough to see some of the UFO places in town. A portion of the town of Roswell centers around the Roswell Incident from 1947. The way the story goes, a UFO crash landed on some ranch land north of Roswell and the U.S. Military recovered alien bodies and the damaged spacecraft. Afterwards they covered up the whole incident. 

The UFO Museum. Entrance fee of $5.00. Most of the information inside is available online or on any of the many documentaries on the Roswell Incident. It was still worth the $5.00.

The kids in the museum loved this display, especially when the spaceship would spew smoke and make a whirring sound.

I got lucky in that there is a festival going on in town this weekend. It is their annual Pinata Festival that is staged around the courthouse square. It reminded me of the old Blueberry Festival that used to be around the courthouse in Mansfield, Louisiana. Sadly, once it moved to a location away from the courthouse, it never was the same.

The Pinata Festival

The Ten Commandments located in front of the courthouse. I hope it stays there, but many have been removed by force.

The poor ponies going around in a circle. They all looked so sad. 

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed about 100 miles south to Brantley Lake State Park just outside of Carlsbad. I'll be there for three days which will be just long enough to maybe visit the cavern. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.