This Was One of the Coolest Landscapes I’ve Seen Yet in New Mexico

This was a really cool trip in every way. I found San Lorenzo Canyon by chance while browsing AllTrails.

Wait, don’t you sit up at night looking at all the trails on AllTrails looking for cool, hidden finds?

This canyon is located about 20-25 miles outside of Socorro in the middle of the New Mexican desert, down a washboard road about 6 miles off of the nearest highway. A lot of the best finds in this state are like that.

An aerial view of a section of the canyon with the big cliff formations that surround you.

The canyon kind of sneaks up on you on the road. You are driving over rugged terrain and you see a few rocks and then you round a corner and you are in some of the coolest landscapes I’ve found so far in New Mexico.

The 100’+ tall cliffs around you are mixed with glorious cottonwood trees, oftentimes juxtaposing two different realities: there’s water here but it is still quite the desert.

As the sun lowered, I got a chance to capture blue hour in the desert. The calmness of this moment is something I am going to try to channel forever. There were some scattered sounds of birds and what I believe to bet bats as the sun left us and night began to fall. But otherwise, silence. Glorious silence.

We overnighted in the canyon with only a couple of other souls. The next morning was cool and crisp, which is what you can expect in New Mexico almost year-around thanks to the higher elevations we exist at.

The sun begins to shine on the canyon walls.

These rocks were speaking to me in profound and deep ways.

With the madness that is our current world, this brief respite away from the world with no cell service was much welcomed. I returned to our current situation more balanced and calmer, ready to re-engage once more.

Spend time in the outdoors, it’ll heal you.