*Review is for seasonal sleigh ride only*…read more I have to say all staff was really welcoming and helpful-- from the lady who booked our ride on the phone to the guys who took us on our sleigh ride. Everyone was polite, patient with us and our kids, and friendly. The experience, however, wasn't totally what I expected. The cost to ride is $30 for adults and $15 for kids. Luckily, babies are free. For that price and because you have to make a reservation, I kind of expected there to be a curated tour and a specific area they had set up to view lights, one family per sleigh, and just for it to be more... personal. Unfortunately, it was none of those things. We arrived, paid, and followed a man who said our sleigh was ready for us... with another family. I guess I understand wanting to fill the sleigh, but I wasn't expecting to have to share the experience. There were 3 bench seats on the sleigh and we were placed in the very back. While we still could see, it made it more difficult and hard to hear/communicate with our sleigh driver/guide. Our driver and guide were friendly and asked us questions/tried to interact a bit with everyone, but they ended up talking mostly to the family seated in front of us. The guide also asked everyone if they liked Christmas music and just chose a playlist on his phone. The loop we rode wasn't on Grindstone's property at all, but around the town. So the lights we saw were whatever the rental properties and townspeople decided to put up, which was disappointing. We stopped at the turn around point and the guide got down and took cell phone pictures of each party, which was a nice gesture. The whole experience was just sort of lack luster. It was a great idea, but I don't think it was executed well and is a total tourist trap. The driver and guide mentioned that they accepted tips. While they were friendly, I didn't feel as though they did anything over the top to make me want to tip. Call me a Karen, but I don't think it was worth what we paid and I wouldn't recommend it.

This was our second time to go riding at Grindstone Stables. Both times it was our favorite outing…read morein Ruidoso! The folks that work there are wonderful. Will do it again!

SO MUCH FUN! Took our 7 year old granddaughter and spent over 5 hours having a great time. The maze…read morewas fun and the rock sifting a cool experience. The go carts had 3 levels, and she enjoyed the "turtle track" by herself and the regular track with each of us. The spin zone and bumper spray boats were both a hit. The mini golf could use a bit of work, but it was great just playing until we didn't want to anymore. Though it was crowded the lines weren't bad at all. And the STAFF were AMAZING! Nice young people and veteran staff were helpful and we always felt safe. A wonderful experience that makes us want to return to Ruidoso again!

Great time for incredible prices! We were very surprised at how cheap the rides were. Just $7 for 5…read moreminutes on each track. We had fun on the go karts!

We were visiting for the week and discovered this park. Far enough off the main road and completely…read morefenced in, clean and well maintained. It had two separate areas for the older kiddos and the littles. A bathroom nearby was handy. The elk roaming nearby was an added bonus. The munchkins all had a blast while their parents shopped in town. Just don't end up trying to enter from the wrong direction if it's time for the neighboring school to let out.

Great park for kids of all ages. Hidden gem. Elk grazing the area too. Easy to accessread more

Prior to reaching the Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, NM, we sat in traffic for…read moreabout a half hour due to heavy law enforcement presence due to what? I never found out. We stopped only for a moment to view the black lava flow that covered vast amounts of the surrounding area. It's fascinating. There were quite a lot of RV campers at the sites. Here's a quick overview I compiled: + camp host on-site + 20 RV campsites have 30 and 50 amp electrical hookups and water hookups + the above includes 2 RV sites that are accessible + group shelters + picnic shelters + tables + trashcans + BBQ grills + restrooms (also with accessibility) + showers (non-campers may use these for a fee of $6) + RV dump station + leashed dogs allowed + 3/4 mile Malpais Nature Trail "offers a close-up look of the lava surface." + visitor center, bookstore & gift shop available Hopefully someday sooner than later I'll be back to exhaustively explore this remote side of New Mexico. Works Cited https://www.blm.gov/visit/valley-fires-recreation-area

Nice camp area if you're passing through or wanting to stay away from the cities, but still near…read moreattractions in the area. Spaces for big RVs, and even solo tent spots at the very end. RV spots have water and electricity and a few also have tent pads. Reservation can be made online at recreation.gov, but a few spots are first come first serve. (See pic for FF spots) 3 vault toilets in the area, but they also have 1 main shower and restroom facility. The showers or free, but only for paying visitors. They also have a ramp that leads down into the lava flow. They actually built a trail that's handicap accessible all the way into the lava flow with some very old and faded descriptions as you go along. It's a pretty cool thing to enjoy and see but definitely go early in the day as it gets very hot and by the middle of the morning already. Park fees are $3 for single rider, $5 for full vehicle $6 for shower use. Camping fees are $19 for spots with electric and water, $12 for water only, and $7 for a tent spot. Current (Sept 2024) host is Daniel and he's a nice guy.

My partner and I had an amazing time! The escape room was unique, challenging, and absolutely…read morestunning! They really focused on every single detail when creating this room! Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity! I will be making many recommendations!

We had a blast! The rooms were unique and the game was challenging. Don't want to give too much…read moreaway. You should absolutely do it!

Where do I start?! This place is the coolest thing ever. We arrived at 10am right at opening, so we…read moregot great parking and right to the front of the line for the Screaming Eagle Mountain Coaster. It is well worth the $25 per adult ticket. It's a blast with beautiful views. Then we got our wristbands for snow tubing. You get 3 hours of fun for $38 each adult. We did several of the chutes, but as it got warmer and warmer, they had to shut some chutes down because the snow was melting so rapidly. Then we got a snack from the food trucks, which is awesome. Plenty of picnic tables. I had the best elote style roasted corn, and I could not believe it was $5! Advice: get there early or lines get super long (it is spring break so maybe it's not always like that) And wear shoes and clothes you are willing to get dirty and wet. I wore sneakers which were definitely the wrong footwear. Muck boots would have been great. I highly recommend this for a super fun day!

Came 12/27, waited in line for 20 minutes, told to get out of the line and do a liability waiver,…read moregot in line again, apparently everyone in your party needs a waiver and you have to have them all send you PDFs, okay, stepped out of line, everyone filled out waivers, okay all filled out, got in line again, 20 minutes again, I am second in line and they say they are at capacity and shutting down the tubing tickets for 20 minutes. They said come back the next day at 8:45 am to get tickets, okay now today is 12/28, I return with all liability waivers filled out, got all the PDFs, takes 32 minutes to get tickets even though we showed up at 8:45 Go to get breakfast in town, come back at 10, come back, parking lot is at capacity, closed, their attendants only tell you to keep driving, no other instructions, basically saying better luck next time, we swing back around 10:15 now, takes 15 minutes to find a free parking space, get the kids out and ready, have to walk around this area to find the bathrooms, now it's 10:45, finally get to the penguin hill, the only person there attending is to check height, my daughter is 43 inches (with shoes on), in very broken English, the height checker says she is too tall, cannot ride, but we still go so our 2 year old can ride, it is a chaotic mess, absolutely no one is attending to this hill, kids are crashing into each other, people are slipping on ice, and falling with their infants, no help at all. Okay now it's 11:10, we have done one penguin hill, mind you we've paid $140 for four tickets, and they expire at noon (3 hours) My wife takes the 4 year old up to one of the bigger hills she can ride on, it is now 11:57, they were in line for 47 minutes and still haven't come down, my ticket is expiring in three minutes and i did not have a chance to hop on a hill, in total we were able to ride two rides, there are no refunds. This place is so poorly managed, I would not come back here again.

Still beautiful no matter the season. Must go if in the area. PAW approved on every levelread more

Absolutely gorgeous!!…read more - Difficulty level: easy-moderate - Pet friendly - Benches to sit periodically - mix of walking and incline/descent hiking - waterfalls

What a blast walking on this cute little trail! We came mid week so there wasn't as many people as…read moresome say there is on the weekend. Cute kids looking for the doors everywhere. Lots of wildlife out when we were out. We went as far on the trail as we could before it ended, if it was a little longer would be ideal but we lived it none the less!

THIS is THEEEE BEST PARK I've ever been too !! We've been traveling in our RV & New Mexico is our…read more8th state so far and we have done so many parks. This has got to be THEE cutest park ever!! (Yes, I'm shouting ) We stayed near town to hit up White Sands & we loved it there too & wanted a park to eat, take a hike & relax. First off we parked in the wrong section ‍. We parked by the first bridge (Tom's bridge). So first you want to find the main entrance. There you will see a wonderful map of the adorable park & the fairy homes. I'll give you a clue, don't use the map, it's not that great BUT is adorable for pictures! Look on the ground for a white fairy wand & you are close to a fairy house. If you find a T, then look for a Troll home. I saw online ONE cute fairy home & thought I would surprise our teens with one cute fairy home. Boy, was I wrong! There's 10 !! We did 9/10. It starts to get into a residential area & maybe it was us buuuut a little old lady didn't look to please that we were there looking for the 10th one. Sorry Lady! They have great picnic spots, benches to sit everywhere! I'm a big big girl and I walked one way the whole thing than my wonderful husband ran back to get our car for me & the kids. We had packed a picnic & parked by the big picnic area. There's about 2 parking spots. All & all, we had a blast ! Greatest Park Ever !!

Cloud climbing trestle trail, the trail head starts off in a small state park area with picnic…read moretables and a small paved quarter-mile hoop with overlooks. The cloud Trestle Trail will go down to the old Mexican trestle that you see from the highway coming into Cloudcroft. There's also two other trestles on the trail in the tree line that you can see on. This is the cloud climbing trestle trail about 1.3 miles from the top of the mountain down to the valley and up another mountain to the Mexican trestle. You can continue on the loop or come back up the way you went. When you continue you hike along the old train tracks to the backside and back up to the backside of park.

This is a great trail. It took us about an hour. It was a great workout. The views were stunning…read more Coming to Cloudcroft in October is my favorite time of year because of the wonderful colors that you find on this walking trail. There's lots of red and yellow. The trees are changing color and you know it's fall. Plus the weather is fantastic.