NEARby Attractions

The Canadian River is a very long, major U.S. waterway that flows from its headwaters near Raton Pass in far northern Colfax County, just south of the Colorado border, down through east-central New Mexico, then east across the Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma, where it drains a sizeable portion of that state before reaching its confluence with the Arkansas River just west of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

In New Mexico, the river has a navigable flow that is usually limited to years of above-average rainfall in the desert between Raton and Tucumcari. Its major tributaries include the Vermejo, Ute, Mora, Conchas and Cimarron Rivers, most of which offer paddlers great whitewater runs when they flow. The geology of the Canadian River includes granite cliffs and canyons near the headwaters and a deep sandstone canyon with historical ancient ruins between the Cornudo Hills to the west and the Kiowa National Grasslands to the east. Golden and bald eagles can be seen soaring high over the river valley, but few signs of civilization will be found along the river and its tributaries.

(32 mi. NW)

Conchas Dam, constructed by the Corps of Engineers on the Canadian River, is a concrete gravity section flanked by embankment wings. The dam has a structural height of 235 feet, a crest length of 6,230 feet, and a volume of 836,000 cubic yards of concrete and 887,000 cubic yards of earth. The main spillway is an overflow section 300 feet long in the main section of the dam. An emergency spillway, located on the north dike, is 3,000 feet long and is 17 feet higher than the main spillway. The irrigation outlet works is a circular pressure tunnel leading to the gate chamber, then into two steel penstocks in a horseshoe tunnel. The reservoir has a capacity of 528,951 acre-feet, of which 252,334 acre-feet are conservation storage.

Water stored in the Conchas Reservoir, 31 miles northwest of Tucumcari, is conveyed to the land in the Conchas Canal and its branch, the Hudson Canal. The canals deliver the water to the 172-mile distribution system which serves the project lands.

The lake is a popular site for a wide variety of water sports activities including boating, fishing and water-skiing. The park is a full-service facility with ample camping and picnicking facilities, boat ramps, marina, bait and tackle supplies, food services, and play grounds. Anglers can catch walleye, largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill, and crappie.

Park Superintendent
Dan Rand
(575) 868-2270 
P.O. Box 976 
Conchas Dam NM 88416 
Website: www.emnrd.state.nm.us/nmparks/PAGES/PARKS/CONCHAS/CONCHAS.HTM