Road trip to NM......

[ospreynn]

Hi guys, new guy here!!!

I'm a cactus "enthusiast", more interested in observing them in their habitat than actually collecting them (I don't have the room nor the weather, I live in Denver). Anyway, I got interested in cactus during my college years in Las Cruces, NM, while hiking the Organ Mts and Tortugas mountain. I did manage to grow up a couple of them from seeds I collected, including an Echinocereus fendlerii that I been carrying with me for 15 years.

I will be going to El Paso, TX in a couple of weeks, with Carlsbad caverns as a stop. I was thinking in checking out the Roswell area to see if I can see Echinocactus texensis and/or Echinocereus reichenbachi. I've never seen E. texensis in their habitat even when it's one of my favorites. I've seen photos here in the forum of very large specimens..... I had no idea they can get that big!!! Also, I would like to see how different are the NM native E. reichenbachii from the Colorado natives. I've seen them near Pueblo several times, but never in NM.

I've been doing some research, and it seems like the Bitter Lake National Refuge may be a good are to look for them. The area is quite big, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Another area I heard of is between Artesia and Carlsbad, on the road that head to Seating Bull Falls, Road 137 perhaps??? also, I would assume they grow closer to the Pecos river. Is it BLM land, private??... I'm not familiar with that part of the state.

Again, any help/hints would be greatly appreciated....