My next stop in my Southern New Mexico State Park tour led me to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park.  It is about 12 miles south of Alamogordo, NM.  It is a beautiful park located at the base of the Sacramento Mountains.  I set up camp in a site with no hook-ups.  The weather was beautiful – no wind and lots of sun and great scenery as you will see.  This is a pic of my site.

Be sure to click and then click again to enlarge all photos.

It is really a great place to hike.  My first few days I hiked in Dog Canyon where a stream was still flowing.  It is a wonderful area with lots of large trees.  Lots of shade!!

On Saturday I hiked further up Dog Canyon almost to where there is no water.  I discovered lots of beautiful flowers and even an orchid.  I used to grown lots of orchids at one time so really enjoyed the beauty of this one.  Here is a pic of the Helleborine Orchid I discovered.  What a beauty!!!

Also a pic of the Yellow Columbine.  They were everywhere on the canyon walls.

I took a few more pics of the canyon area.  It was very beautiful.  I was going to go to the very end, where the water stopped, but glad I didn’t.  The park ranger told me that there was a huge clump of poison ivy back that.  OUCH !!

This is a pic of Frenchy’s cabin.  Frenchy in conjunction with Oliver lee built the aqueduct that carried water through the canyon to his orchards and Oliver Lee’s cattle.  They found him dead with a bullet in his chest.  Oh Well !!!!

On the way back to my campsite I found this prickly pear cactus in bloom.

In the afternoon a group of us took a tour of Oliver Lee’s original home when he lived in this area.  He was a rancher, cattleman, and later went into politics and was elected to both houses of the New Mexico State legislature.  The house had been completely restored after much wear and tear over the years.  It was even used in a Disney film called Scrupulous John.

This shows the barn.  It has completely deteriorated.

I really like the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park.  Especially the Dog Canyon are with all of it’s growth.  Even lots of trees.  I will be here for a week so will get to see it in depth.