Bottomless Lakes State Park
Bottomless Lakes State Park is a beautiful place just 14 miles outside of Roswell, New Mexico. The blue-green lakes are sinkholes ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. Fed by springs, the lakes overflow to wetlands areas that had just finished providing respite for migrating birds weeks ago. We walked along the boardwalk trails over the now-dry soil to see the bird blinds – but no birds!
The largest lake, Lake Lea, near the campground was still buttoned up for winter but it looks like a very busy place in summer. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a recreation pavilion with covered picnic shelters spreading out from a central snack bar building facing the lake. Boat docks for non-motorized boats, a kayak rental and large sandy beach would create lots of hub bub in the season.
Our home for three nights from April 30th was in a huge, 80 foot pull-through campsite that was adjacent to the lake and filled with puddles from a rainstorm the night before. The rain activated the smelly alkaline mud and made it rather unpleasant until it dried out.
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
A nice visitor center at the refuge had an entertaining movie and a special edition film on dragonflies that was fascinating. I have always loved dragonflies but knew very little about them. The film captures amazing footage that I could only hope to capture one day.
The refuge is best known for the thousands of birds that stop here during migration. Drives and overlooks take advantage of the wide-perspective views while viewing ponds provide up-close views. It must be impossibly crowded during migration season because the accessible areas are relatively small. Fun-to-watch Black Neck Stilts and some various ducks were the only birds that still remained in the ponds during our visit. Incredibly skittish, the ducks scattered as we drove by them eliminating photo opportunities. Another place on the repeat-visit list to see but maybe after Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge which we heard is larger and more plentiful during migration.
UFO Museum
Click to see aliens …
Cheesy and interesting all at the same time, the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell was on the iconic road-trip bucket list – check! Housed in a historic theater, the Museum keeps a part of the town’s history alive. The museum displays were primarily framed articles and didn’t provide much interaction, just reading our way around the room. Thank goodness there were articles from other incidents besides the single Roswell story, otherwise, it might have been way too boring.
An unexpected whoosh, beeping and smoke emitting from the main life-size display of alien beings with a tiny ship was fun! I enjoyed the movie where people had been interviewed about the story. We chose to watch the full-length film Roswell back at the RV on YouTube but it was available in the theater and included in the admission cost. It would probably have been nice to have seen before looking at the displays.
Filled with everything UFO, the gift shop was a must for anyone – even skeptics! It is open to visitors with or without museum admission. Such creative options!
There are fun hints of aliens around town but overall, not much happening in Roswell. There is a weird energy about the town and the weird sinkhole lakes nearby so if you are into iconic road trip stops and unusual energy, don’t miss it!
