Bottomless Lakes

The Bottomless Lakes  area about 18 miles Southeast of Roswell, New Mexico, was an underwater seabed thousands of year ago. When the inland ocean receded, underground salts and calcium were dissolved leaving large open caves. In some places, the roof was not strong enough to support the weight of the rock above. So, the roof caved in leaving sinkholes which subsequently filled with water.

In the late 1800's, cowboys driving cattle through the area tied their lariats together to see how deep the lakes were . . . but were unable to reach the bottom. So they called them "Bottomless Lakes". Today, however, we know that these lakes are 90 feet deep, pretty deep for such small lakes (or sinkholes).

This is the area where we decided to park "The Bus" for a few weeks . . . Bottomless Lakes State Park . . . an area encompassing about ten of the Bottomless Lakes . . . an area of unique geology and a quiet beauty. Each of the lakes is surrounded by red rock bluffs, the sides of the collapsed sinkhole.

The largest of the lakes within the park boundary is Lea Lake, with a large sandy beach, pavilion, picnic tables, and a bathhouse with showers, a refreshment stand (open only in the Summer), and a place to buy ice . . .

There is also a small marina where the Park Rangers dock paddle boats and pedal boats for rent in the Summer months . . .

And a very nice campground with full hookups for RVs, each space with a concrete patio and picnic table with canopy, and a level river rock filled parking space . . .

This is where we are spending three weeks, just quietly admiring the scenery and watching for UFOs here in the "UFO Capital of the World".