A Refuge in the Deep Woods
Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center is a 135 acre property surrounded by 300,000 acres of Carson National Forest in the Tusas Mountains of northern New Mexico. The land is a rich high alpine ecosystem situated at almost 9,000 feet above sea level at the very southern tip of the Rocky Mountains.
The place we call Vallecitos today rests upon the territories of the Jicarilla Apache, Muu-agha-tuzu-pu (Ute) and Ancestral Puebloan Peoples. They passed through the land of Vallecitos for seasonal hunting and medicine and food gathering. Many artifacts have been found around the property showing use during the 13th century by the Ancestral Puebloans. This land has long been a place where people come together, gather and then disperse time and again.
The land is a wildly diverse biological treasure. The land has never been logged and cattle have not grazed here since before WWII. Countless mammals in northern New Mexico have been sighted at the center from deer and elk to bobcat, lynx and black bears. We are also visited by beaver, muskrats and porcupines to name a few. Vallecitos includes a rare wetlands habitat with over 60 species of birds and over 50 varieties of grasses and flowers. The Buddha tree is estimated at 600-800 years old as one of many in an area that contains the largest old growth forest in the entire Carson Forest.
The Lodge was built later in 1928 by the Baxter family. It was patterned after the Lodge at Yellowstone National Park using some of the finest carpenters and artisans in northern NM and CO. The logs were harvested from the surrounding forest and rocks from the Vallecitos river, dated to 1.4 billion years ago, were used to build the fireplace.
The property was purchased by Harvey Mudd in 1970. In 1992 Grove Burnett, our Founding Teacher and Linda Valerde, our Founding Director along with two partners purchased the land in the 11th hour before it was to be sold and turned into a high end destination hunting and fishing camp. After purchase of the land the partners generously gifted the property to the current tax-exempt, non profit organization that it is today. A conservation easement protects the land – it will never be subdivided or partitioned, it will not exceed the existing facility footprints and the care for all natural conditions and ecosystems will be paramount.
