Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park

05/15/2026

It's the most wonderful time of the year - h***y toad season!

05/01/2026

Summer hours are now in effect - enjoy!

04/12/2026

“Because once you’ve seen the desert up close, it’s hard to see it as empty again.”

Read more about Asombro’s decades long commitment to open Las Cruces students’ eyes to the wonder of science & the Chihuahuan Desert in this lovely article by the Bulletin’s Kurt Johnson:

At first glance, the desert doesn’t look like much. It stretches out in muted colors—dust, rock and scrub—quiet and still, easy to pass by without a second thought. But for thousands of southern New Mexico students each year, that changes the...

04/08/2026

It's that special, fleeting time of year.

03/11/2026

Signs of spring are becoming plentiful at the nature park. Flowers are budding and "hilltopper" butterflies are fluttering at the top of Vista Hill. Get outside this weekend and savor this fleeting phase of life in the desert.

02/19/2026

Exciting news - we have a new amphitheater! We can't wait to use it during Asombro's field trips with local schools. It's also an ideal spot for the public to enjoy a rest or a picnic with stellar views of the Organ and San Andres Mountains and the Jornada Basin.

Stay tuned for updates about a paint job and shade. In the mean time, plan to join us for our Art in the Park event to see it yourself! Event info: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AkUvtHXT3/

02/12/2026

Check out some of the amazing post cards and quotes we saw and heard during Asombro's Ecosystem Pen Pal project with local elementary students.

In the fall, four lucky Las Cruces 5th grade classes wrote and illustrated postcards sharing what makes the Chihuahuan Desert unique for students in Alaska, Colorado, and Virginia.

This week, they got postcards back and made observations about differences between the desert and the ecosystems in these states. Students loved the experience! For example, one student commented that Ecosystem Pen Pals made her “feel happy because it felt like a long distance conversation.” Another said exchanging postcards made her feel “pretty cool that I’m communicating with someone I never would have thought I’d ever talk to.”

The Ecosystem Pen Pals project is only possible because of Asombro’s collaboration with educators all over the U.S. who are part of the US Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

01/20/2026

Bring your group to the nature park, too!

01/19/2026

In addition to operating and maintaining the nature park, adding new signage, and installing a brand new amphitheater (more on that later), the Asombro Institute ALSO achieved all these things in 2025! Enjoy these highlights from the past year:

01/03/2026

2025 was yet another productive year for documenting the remarkable flora and fauna who call our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park home.

Park visitors and Asombro Institute staff recorded 572 observations of wild plants and animals in 2025, sharing their photos to our project on . To date, the project includes a total of 2,535 observations of 521 unique species, all encountered within the 935 acres of the park!

We invite all visitors to participate. Simply download the free iNaturalist app on your phone, snap some shots during your visit, and upload them to the app. Experts in the community will even help identify the species if you are unsure. It's a great way to learn, get motivated to go outside, and you'll be contributing to a global database that is used by scientists from all over the world!