Small town New Mexico. Well, that is what the majority of New
Mexico is. In a state with 121,355 sq miles of space, and less
that 2 million people to populate it, (over half of them living
in greater Albuquerque), you can well imagine that most of NM is
very rural. Villanueva is a Spanish Colonial village east of
Albuquerque and south of Las Vegas, (NM), in San Miguel County.
It has the distinction of also being home to a beautiful yet
little know New Mexico State Park set along the famous Pecos
River. It is an unassuming, yet excellent example of small town
New Mexico, with no semblance of tourism anywhere. When
approaching this village from I-40 to the south, it is difficult
to visualize a town out here on the plains. But just as you
become reasonably sure you are headed to nowhere, the landscape
instantly transforms from grassland to rocks and hills, and
before you know it you are cutting through the rock hill and
bursting into a picturesque hidden valley surrounded by yellow
and red rock bluffs with a riv