Hello Roses!
Pat and I are excited about your visit. We love this area and can’t wait to show you around. The picture below was taken last summer when Donna Campbell visited Rose Valley RV Park here in Silver City.
Rose Valley RV Park
The RV park has spacious sites and a walking trail. The area used to be a dairy farm so there’s some old farm equipment scattered about and a big barn. We can use the barn if it rains, but otherwise it will be too hot. There’s a quarter mile walking loop and from that loop you can go out into a pasture and walk further. Here’s a picture taken from the loop and one of Pat walking in the pasture.
A bit about Silver City
Silver City has an interesting history. It’s a pretty little town with lots to offer in the way of shopping and restaurants. Pat recently picked up some welcome packets for each of you.
Bullard Street, which is the center of downtown, is about two miles from the RV Park. At one time, back in the 1800s there was a Main Street, but a big flood washed it away. Now what was once Main Street is a park called the Big Ditch. I won’t repeat the story of the Big Ditch here, but if you’re interested check out this link. It’s a must see when you visit downtown. There you’ll find a mural made of tiles, one of many around town. Here’s another mural that you might see downtown.
The downtown area offers plenty of opportunities to pick up t-shirts and souvenirs. Since you’ll be here on a Saturday, you can visit the Farmer’s Market and pick up some fresh veggies and other stuff.
On the practical side of things, there’s a Walmart near the RV park and an Albertson’s within walking distance of the RV park.
Day Tripping
The vegetation in the area around the RV park and the town is called juniper scrub. As you might imagine, there are lots of juniper trees and lots of soaptree yucca plants.
Gila National Forest
If you venture up Hwy 15 for about 20 minutes you’ll find yourself in the Gila National Forest, a land of tall Ponderosa Pines. We head up that way often. There are two campgrounds that we love and we’re hoping you’ll all join us one day for a drive up to the forest and a picnic. There’s a walking trail that we like at one of the campgrounds. It’s not really a strenuous hike, but the elevation is about 7000 feet up there. It should be cool, even in July and you’ll see birds and wildflowers at that time of year. Here are a couple of pictures of that hike. In the picture with people, that’s Julia with two of our friends who also like to bird and hike. Hopefully, you’ll get to meet one or both of them while you’re here.
Tour of the Wilderness
While there’s no agenda for this get-together, we’re planning a day trip to an area called the Catwalk Recreation Area. It’s about 1.5 hours away along a scenic road.
We’ll stop at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Lookout where you can see the Black Mountain Range. Further up the road, the Catwalk, as the locals call it, features a walkway through a canyon where you can see the stream below.
If you’re not up for a walk, there are plenty of picnic tables right by the stream just off the parking lot. We’re thinking we’ll pack a picnic lunch and hang out there for a bit. All the stops along the way and the Catwalk have vault toilets. The small town of Glenwood has a couple of shops. Any purchase at the Trading Post in Glenwood will get you access to a clean bathroom with running water. That’s a big plus after a day of vault toilets.
Other things to see and do
In the period between around 200 CE until the Spaniards arrived in this area, a group of people lived in this area. Historians are unsure what they called themselves, but they are referred to as the Mogollon culture or sometimes the Mimbres people. They left behind some beautiful pottery called Mimbres pottery. The local university has a museum with many examples of this pottery. If you’re so inclined, it’s worth a visit. Here’s a link to the website of that museum. WNMU Museum. We visited it with Pat Brown and Kathleen Baker a couple of years ago. To learn more about this culture, visit this website.
The Mimbres Cultural Heritage Site is about a 30-minute drive to a town called Mimbres.
The Silver City Museum has been closed due to Covid, but it appears to be open now.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings are closed due to a forest fire as I write this, but they might be open when you’re here. If you think you might want to visit, keep in mind that it’s about a two-hour drive from here and the dwellings will take about an hour and a half to go through. So a trip up there will take up one day. I’m not trying to deter anyone; just want you to be aware of that. It is a beautiful (but winding) drive and they have a nice gift shop. That’s always a plus for me.
This is just a sampling of things to do. There are some galleries in town too.
Visiting!
In addition to all of the running around I’ve described here, we’re hoping to spend lots of time visiting. Our site is big enough that we can all gather here. We have an outside kitchen and plenty of room for chairs. Maybe we can have a potluck one night or order a pizza – or both! I hope you all go home with pictures and fun memories. We can’t wait to see you!
