Geologic Tour to South Central New Mexico

Join PEEC and local geologists Fraser and Cathy Goff on an exciting four-day field trip to examine the geology of southern New Mexico, including San Lorenzo Canyon, Kilbourne Hole, Organ Mountains, and the Permian Trackway site. The outing begins on Friday, September 30, and ends on Monday, October 3, 2022 (3 nights in Las Cruces). This trip is perfect for anyone with an interest in geology and natural science. Non-geologists are most welcome.

Tentative Field Trip Itinerary 

Day 1 (Friday, Sept 30): Participants will meet at Los Alamos Nature Center at 7 AM, then drive south to our first stop at San Lorenzo Canyon on the west margin of the Rio Grande rift to examine spectacular rift-related sedimentation and faulting. We’ll spend Friday night at a hotel in Las Cruces.

Day 2 (Saturday, Oct 1): After breakfast, we will head to Kilbourne Hole, the famous maar volcano north of the Mexican Border, which contains fragments of colorful mantle peridotite and lower crustal rocks wrapped in basalt lava. This second night will again be spent at our hotel in La Cruces.

Day 3 (Sunday, Oct 2): After breakfast, we drive east into the Organ Mountains to observe an uplifted and faulted caldera complex that exposes both outflow sheets of welded tuff and a crystallized magmatic core of granitic rocks. We have a reservation for a group dinner this evening, but this is optional and the meal cost is not included in the tour. We’ll head back to our Las Cruces hotel for the third and final night.

Day 4 (Monday, Oct 3): After breakfast, we’ll head home with a side trip stop and hike at the recently created Permian Trackway site a few miles west of Doña Ana. Perhaps we’ll see footprints and casts of 280 million-year-old critters, leaves, and petrified wood in ancient brick red muds and sands. We expect to arrive home in Los Alamos by 6 PM.

Lodging

• If you would like PEEC to handle your hotel reservations, please select that option while registering.
  • For example, if you are booking for a couple, only one attendee needs to include the room fee when purchasing tickets, and the other should have a “tour only” admission.
  • The total for three nights is $390 in a room with two queen beds OR one king bed. Select your room type during registration and we will do our best to accommodate everyone’s preferences on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Breakfasts are included with your hotel stay.
  • The deadline for this option is Monday, September 12. The deadline for this option has passed. If you would like more information about accommodation options during the tour, please call the nature center.
• Participants can also arrange their own lodging accommodations if they would like, by selecting the “tour only” admission.

Other Details

Participants should be prepared for the weather, wearing layers of clothing and good shoes or boots. Bring a small backpack, hat, sunscreen, gloves, snacks, and a water bottle. You may also want to bring a camera, walking stick, rock hammer, and hand lens (all optional). Pack four sack lunches (one for each day). Dinners will be on your own and are not included in the tour fee. PEEC will pay all entrance fees during the tour.

Refund Policy

Cancellations made by a registrant before September 16, 2022, will receive a refund of fees paid minus a 15% processing fee. No refunds will be made after that date. In the event that an attendee is dismissed during or otherwise unable to participate in the program because of non-compliance with rules and/or endangering their own safety or that of others, there will be no refund. Click here for more information about PEEC’s Refund Policy.

If you have any questions about the tour, please email beth@peecnature.org or call the nature center at 505-662-0460.

Admission: $365/PEEC member, $455/non-members. Additional $390 for PEEC to handle hotel accommodations.