Puerto de Luna, NM

Tucked along the Pecos River about ten miles south of Santa Rosa, Puerto de Luna is a quiet, scenic pocket of rural New Mexico. Driving down State Road 91 brings you into a surprisingly green valley, fed by historic irrigation ditches that local families have maintained since the 1860s. It offers a peaceful, slow-paced setting where cottonwood groves and farm plots spread out along the riverbank.

ATTRjaygannett from La Veta, CO, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0

The village carries a lot of frontier history. It was the original county seat in the late 1800s, and you can still spot the stone ruins of the old courthouse standing today. Local lore even links the area to Billy the Kid, who reportedly stopped by for a Christmas Eve dinner in 1880. Today, Puerto de Luna is home to roughly 150 residents who enjoy rural privacy while keeping schools, shops, and services easily accessible ten minutes away in Santa Rosa.