Sugarite Canyon State Park – What to Expect

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Top 3:
• $10 tent camping fee, $5 day use fee per vehicle. You can pay after-hours with the payment box near the visitor center entrance.
• 15 miles of trails for day hiking and 2 lakes for fishing. Mountain biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing options also available.
• Showers are locked at closing time (they were closed at 7pm when I went).

Here’s the park’s Trail Guide. It includes a trail map and information about each trail: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/spd/documents/SugariteCanyonStateParkTrailGuide.pdf

View from atop Little Horse Mesa

View of Little Horse Mesa from the road leading to Soda Pocket Camping Area

Trail conditions were similar to this throughout the park

Sugarite Canyon State Park is located in northeastern New Mexico, near the town of Raton. The park can be reached by taking HW 72 east from Raton, then heading north on HW 526 into the park. The visitor center will be on the east side of the road, across from the park’s bathroom/shower facility.

Map showing route from Raton NM to Sugarite Canyon S.P.

The area that now is the park was once a camp which mined “sugarite” coal. The park pays a tribute to its coal-mining heritage with a few trails and a small site behind the visitor center that feature information about the town, artifacts, and the ruins of buildings from the old camp. Trails to 3 different mines have plenty of evidence of the old camp along the way. This blog post has some details and pictures: http://venturing4th.blogspot.com/2017/05/sugarite-coal-camp.html

A forest fire cleared a lot of the park in 2011. You can still tell where this happened but nature is hard at work bringing the forest back to life. This is mostly around Lake Maloya on the north side of the park. Don’t let it dissuade you from seeing this area of the park.

Apparently bear sightings are somewhat common, and I did actually see a black bear when I went. It was along the Little Horse Mesa trail, suspiciously near the campgrounds. Make sure to use the provided bear boxes if camping. Also keep in mind that there is no potable water available at the park.

Overall, I would highly recommend this park. It’s quiet, it’s beautiful and it’s in the middle of a bunch of other cool stuff (check out Capulin volcano, for instance). If you go, try hiking to the top of Little Horse Mesa to see the sun set. Little Horse Mesa is the highest point in the park and provides spectacular views in all directions. The hike is only about 1 mile each and is moderate difficulty.

Although I hate to be disparaging, I would NOT recommend the Alice lake hike. It’s simply not scenic enough – there are plenty of better options available. You’ll be hiking along the freeway the entire time, with the end destination of the lake being near the freeway as well. The trail may make a good warm-up hike however, as it’s mostly flat the whole way.