Cimarron Canyon State Park, New Mexico: Just Passin' Through, Ma'am

Cimarron Canyon State Park, New Mexico

You may or may not recall that one of my afflictions is that once I'm moving forward, it's awfully hard for me to  reverse course, even when lost (except for carcasses, such as here and here).

One of my recent weekend goals was to check out Cimarron Canyon State Park. I approached it from the east. That is, I was moving west when I entered the park. I figured I'd stop at the visitor's center and decide on a trail I might walk, and generally see what was what at this park. 

I kept driving and driving, passing by little pull-outs for day use areas, sometimes going by one with a cluster of people looking up at the bluffs that formed the canyon wall.

I was getting really hungry for lunch, so I postponed my arrival at the visitor's center (where the hell was it, anyway?), and turned into a creekside spot.

Lunch spot and Cimarron Canyon State Park, New Mexico

The view above is what I looked at while eating my lunch. The small area has several picnic tables and a vault toilet.

Lunch complete, I got back in the car to continue my way to the visitor's center. Mile after mile I drove, thinking soon I'd run out of park, wondering if the visitor's center had been at the east end of the park and I'd somehow missed it. Finally I saw a sign for a campground on the right, along with a sign that said "park office."

Thinking:

1. The park office could tell me where the visitor's center was; or
2. The park office was the visitor's center.

It was closed.

So I just kept on going.

I did later get the answer to my question, though.