City of Rocks State Park Visitor Center

By Edith Cherry and James See – May 22, 2020

Address:  327 New Mexico 61, Faywood, NM 88034

Access: 505 536-2800 | Website 

The City of Rocks State Park’s Visitor Center enhances the natural resource without competing with it. The dramatic rock façade is camouflaged to match the landscape.

The highway approach to the City of Rocks’ Visitor Center leads to the entry portico of the building.  This entry cuts through the long rock wall, while the tapered top edge of the wall points to the unusual rock formations that are the focus of the State Park.

The layout of the Visitor Center is composed of two separate buildings on either side of the portico. On one side are the offices and the museum. The displays show information about the aboriginal people of the area and the geology of the park, and offices. A large window faces the rock formations interpreted in the museum.

The other building can operate during different hours, and houses restrooms, showers and vending machines.  Among the many energy-saving features of the Center are skylights with metal shades that can be adjusted to control the sun at different times of the year.

Completed:  1997
Architect:  Edward Mazria, Architect 
Contractor:  seeking info*

5/22/20