Villanueva

We spent one night here in October 2025, on our first big trip in the Brinkley, Colorado to Austin (Episode 4). We were in site 10 and paid $33.50 for the night, fees included. Our full field report is still being written, so here is what to know about the place itself.

The short version

Villanueva State Park sits in a canyon of high sandstone bluffs along the Pecos River, near the small village of Villanueva in northern New Mexico. It is on NM Highway 3 between I-40 and I-25, about 35 miles from Las Vegas and 59 miles from Santa Fe.

A little history

• The land was part of the San Miguel del Bado Land Grant, one of the largest Spanish land grants in New Mexico, centered on the Pecos River south of Pecos Pueblo.
• In 1967 the grant's Board of Trustees transferred tracts to the state to form the core of the park. The state later added land from the grant board and the Bureau of Land Management.
• The park sits along a trail used by early Spanish explorers.
• The village of Villanueva was originally called La Cuesta, after the hill it sits on, a name it kept until 1890.

What it is known for

• About 2.9 miles of trails along the canyon walls.
• Fishing for catfish in summer and trout in winter.
• Canoeing, kayaking, tubing and swimming on the Pecos River, plus picnicking, birding and wildlife viewing.
• Equestrian camping and horseback riding.

Camping

• 36 developed campsites, 12 of them with electric hookups, including RV pull-through sites.
• Sites can take RVs up to 40 feet.
• Showers, restrooms, a playground, a group shelter, a visitor center and an RV dump station.

Good to know

• Reservations are made through the New Mexico State Parks reservation website.
• There is a fee to use the dump station.