Boyd's Sanatorium and Van Patten's Mountain Camp

Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument

 

If you live in Las Cruces, New Mexico, you surely know the Dripping Springs Trail at Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument. Yet I'm surprised how many people - even those who hike the trail - are not familiar with two of the abandoned places you  find there on the way to Dripping Springs.

 

Major Eugene Van Patten, a Confederate soldier, built his Mountain Camp (aka Dripping Springs Resort) sometime after 1872. The two-story, 14-room hotel included dining and other recreational facilities. After experiencing financial troubles, he sold the resort to Dr. Nathan Boyd in 1917.

 

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Dr. Boyd constructed the nearby sanatorium in 1910. For a brief time, it housed tuberculosis patients until Dr. Boyd, too, experienced financial difficulties. All structures are now ghost towns, abandoned structures with only passersby to notice them - often with a certain chill.

 

The easy, 1.5 mile hike provides not only the Dripping Springs as a destination, and the abandoned buildings en route, but many beautiful views and opportunities for wildlife viewing.

 

 

Find below pictures and a Google Map.

 

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Mountain TimeOutdoor exploration featuring southern New Mexico plus Arizona near Tucson, and western Nebraska with photos, maps, historic sites and more