- Location
- New Mexico
- Current protection
- Cimarron Canyon State Park, within the Colin Neblett Wildlife Management Area
- Status
- No active campaign
- Tier
- Tier 3 · Smaller national site
- In the book
- Not featured in Undiscovered America
Why should it be a National Park?
Between Eagle Nest and the town of Cimarron, the Cimarron River runs through a canyon walled by the Palisades, granite cliffs that rise hundreds of feet straight from the water in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
It is one of the most striking canyons in the southern Rockies, and it was once named as a National Park candidate. It deserves that recognition still.
The history of National Park Campaigns
Cimarron Canyon appeared as a possible park in John E. Kell's 1936 report on the Eagle's Nest watershed, and it came up again in 1939 and 1946. No park followed; the canyon is now a state park.
- Distinct National Park attempts
- 1 (1936–46 mentions)
- Other designation attempts
- 1 (state park)
Sources
- National Park Service, Suggested Areas Resumes (1957)
- Wikipedia, List of proposed National Parks of the United States
- 1936
John E. Kell's report on the Eagle's Nest watershed mentions the canyon as a possible park.
- 1939, 1946
The idea is raised again.
- Today
Cimarron Canyon State Park protects the canyon.