About 12 miles south of town, this state park sits at the mouth of Dog Canyon, where the Sacramento Mountains drop sharply into the Tularosa Basin. The canyon floor is surprisingly lush — cottonwoods and willows grow near a spring — while the desert stretches out below in the heat. A short but steep trail climbs the canyon wall for views across the basin to White Sands. Go early in summer; by midday the exposed sections are brutal.
Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
Desert canyon park with views to White Sands
A story
The canyon here was the site of the 1899 Battle of Dog Canyon, where U.S. marshals attempted to arrest cattleman Oliver Lee on suspicion of murdering journalist Albert Fountain. Lee surrendered peacefully and was later acquitted, but the Fountain murders remain one of New Mexico's most enduring unsolved mysteries.