Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park is New Mexico's 34th state park, encompassing 300 acres of bosque (riverside forest) along the Rio Grande and 600 acres of adjacent Chihuahuan Desert. The park is a refuge for wildlife and a haven for people seeing the quiet enjoyment of nature.

Day Use Park
Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park is a day-use park that offers a variety of opportunities for walkers and wildlife watchers to enjoy the outdoors.

Visitor Center Complex
The Park opened to the public in December, 2008. Its new visitor center incorporates green technology, including solar panels and adobe walls, that helps make it a premier environmental learning destination in southern New Mexico.

Outdoor Classroom Program for Teachers and Students

Thousands of students have visited Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park as part of the Outdoor Classroom Program, a joint effort in outdoor standards-based learning between New Mexico State Parks and the Public Education Department. Staff and volunteers help teachers and students explore the wonders of the Rio Grande bosque and the Chihuahuan Desert.

The Bosque Education Guide is the primary learning tool for field trips to Mesilla. This interdisciplinary K-12 curriculum uses the Rio Grande below Elephant Butte Dam as its focus for learning, including activities suitable for field trips and pre- or post-visit classroom study.

Attending a day-long training will help you most effectively use the Guide. Trainings are scheduled throughout the year based on demand. Please contact Heritage Educator LuAnn Tafoya for more information.

Click here to find out about Kids & Parks Transportation Grants that may help pay for part or all of a field trip's costs to visit Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park.

Friends of Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park
This new park will thrive only through strong partnerships with individuals, businesses, and our park's Friends group.  Contact the Friends of Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park (friendsmvbsp@gmail.com.) if you want to be part of the team.

Getting There

From Interstate 10:Take the Avenida de Mesilla Exit (Exit 140) south to Calle del Norte (first stoplight) in Mesilla. Turn right and drive 1.9 miles west until you cross the Rio Grande. Immediately after crossing the bridge, the entrance to the park is visible on the left.

From Las Cruces:Take Avenida de Mesilla (Highway 28) south to Calle del Norte (first stoplight) in Mesilla. Turn right and drive 1.9 miles west until you cross the

Rio Grande. Immediately after crossing the bridge, the entrance to the park is visible on the left.