Alamogordo, New Mexico – Out and About

Dog Canyon Trail – A 5 ½ mile trail with a 3,000 foot elevation gain. Yes, this trail will make you dog tired but the views and the scenery are outstanding. Yes, it is very steep in places but there are two areas where the trail flattens out a bit and has some beautiful alpine meadows.

Dog Canyon trailhead behind Visitor’s Center

Heading up the mountain – first .5 mile is about a 650 foot elevation gain

View of campground

Dog Canyon Trail heading up past first bench

The remnants of Line Cabin – in Dog Canyon – about 2.9 miles into Dog Canyon Trail

Dog Canyon Trail – up near Line Cabin

Dog Canyon Trail

Oliver Lee Ranch House – We took a tour of the Oliver Lee Dog Canyon Ranch house which is given on the weekends by the park rangers. Oliver Milton Lee, whom the park is named for, lived in the Dog Canyon area from around 1893 until around 1914. Mr. Lee has quite an interesting past and his old ranch house is set up like a museum with exhibits and history.

Oliver Lee Ranch House

Great wrap around porch

Oliver Milton Lee

The kitchen

“Scandalous John” was filmed at the Oliver Lee Ranch

I could get used to those views from the porch

Frenchy’s House – A Frenchman named Francois-Jean Rochas lived in the Dog Canyon area where the campground and Visitor’s Center is located today. He emigrated to New Mexico in the mid 1880’s and lived in Dog Canyon until his death in 1894. He was found dead in his cabin, shot through the chest.