Climb around on the lava and note the ropy nature of the surface (_pahoehoe_ of the Hawaiians), the many frozen gas bubbles in the rocks (vesicles), the squeeze-ups where once-liquid lava protrudes through cracks in the hardened crust, the pressure ridges where the hardened crust arched and broke, and collapsed lava tunnels where the outer lava froze and the molten interior ran out, leaving an open tube or cave. Ute Lake State Park Ute Dam, two miles southwest of Logan, provides a 4200-acre reservoir along the Canadian River and Ute Creek stocked with rainbow trout, bass, crappie, and catfish. Camping, picnicking, and boating facilities are available along the valley walls, which are cut in the brown Santa Rosa Sandstone and overlying maroon to green Chinle shales. Santa Fe River State Park Bordering the Santa Fe River in downtown Santa Fe, this city park merges with the State Capitol grounds. It provides picnic tables and benches in the shade of tall trees amid the picturesque ancient city. Elephant Butte Lake State Park The giant Elephant Butte Reservoir, impounded behind the dam five miles east of Truth or Consequences, provides year-around fishing, boating, water skiing, and camping. Built in brown to gray Cretaceous sandstone and shale, the dam is overlooked by the brownish-black volcanic neck that is Elephant Butte. Eastern shores are carved from the purplish and maroon McRae layers. This is the main storage reservoir for the water that irrigates the lush Rio Grande Valley to the south near Las Cruces and El Paso. Caballo Lake State Park Caballo Reservoir, downstream from Elephant Butte, offers excellent facilities for water sports, its bass and crappie fishing being notable. The State Park is fourteen miles south of Truth or Consequences and six miles north of the dam. The spectacular rugged front of the Caballo Mountains looms to the east, with sharp canyons and ribbed cliffs along the valley walls cut in the tan layers of the Santa Fe Formation. Rio Grande Gorge State Park From Velarde (twelve miles north of Espanola) for seventy miles northward to the Colorado state line, the Rio Grande Gorge is carved 500 to 800 feet into black basalt flows and tan Santa Fe Formation layers. Fishing is exciting in the fast waters, although the northern part of the gorge is difficult to reach. Foot and horseback trails lead to the bottom at the mouth of Red River west of Questa where picnic units have been built. Alamogordo Lake State Park The dam of Alamogordo Reservoir blocks the Pecos River and Alamogordo Creek northwest of Fort Sumner. Picnic, camp, and water sports facilities lie along U.S. Highway 84 about sixteen miles northwest of Fort Sumner. Juniper trees dot the low valley walls where the maroon to green shale and sandstone of the Chinle Formation crop out.