Santa Fe Standard

The two state parks in Santa Fe are closed, but that’s not stopping visitors from flocking to them. 

Both state parks, Bluewater Lake State Park and Fenton Lake have been closed to visitors – locals and visitors since April 3, as part of the state’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a stay-at-home order that day.

And now, park rangers are citing those who enter parks, no matter what activities they were trying to undertake.

Ranger Joshua Herron told the Albuquerque Journal that in the past two weekends, they have seen 1,000 cars trying to get into Fenton Lake, in the Jemez Mountains, and many come from large cities, looking to get out in nature.

“These past two weekends, we can’t even leave the front gate. As soon as we leave, cars start parking and they want to walk in,” Herron said. “We get a massive amount of people from Albuquerque and Santa Fe."

At Bluewater Lake State Park, near Gallup, ranger Mark Brown said that he can’t make groups leave when they’re looking for access to the park, partly because three miles of the land around the lake is privately-owned.

“Two Sundays ago, we had a group out there of over 45 people,” said Brown in an interview with the Albuquerque Journal. 

The private land is a loophole he says, but most leave when asked to. Not all though. 

“There’s other groups that kind of have the attitude that, ‘I’m not going to go unless you make me,’” Brown said. “Obviously, at that point, we can’t make them.”

Stephanie Herrera, who works at Amanda’s Country Store in La Cueva, said that they serve hundreds of people daily, and that many of those are elderly individuals trying to escape the cities, headed to the hot springs or Fenton Lake.