Fox cave is on the road to Roswell a few miles past Ruidoso Downs.
This is an old photo of it. It is on private land and now closed to the public.
This is what it looks like today. Overgrown, fading, but still in my memory as a kid.
I think of it as a 1950's era tourist attraction, but it dates back to prehistoric times when it was used by the Native Americans of the area.
These are old lodgings from when it was open. Supposedly Billy the Kid was a visitor here as well. I am not sure about the company I keep.....
What was the insides like? We drove by it hundreds of times without stopping. I wish I had taken the time to see it. Thanks for these pics of the mountains, they bring back warm memories of childhood. I really enjoy your blog!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Thanks! You know, I remember being disappointed because they had it built out into a room and wouldn't let people behind that into the cave part.
ReplyDeletewell let me tell ya the real history behind fox cave, my friend mrs. dorothy"s uncle bill had the curio shop built, she designed it ,she is 90 years old ,was built beginning 40"s. later her husbannd built a gas station at the end of it,,later her uncle rented it out to the foxs for a few years nd then her other uncle took it over. she has some very interesting stories of the place ,which are fantastic ,makes you feel as if you were there.i am trying to get her to either put it down on paper or i am going o try and make a recording of the the place and the people she met when her family stayed there for a while,she had 3 boys who also sleep there and had good stories about the place.no one would have been disspointed walking in there back them and knowing the story of the place now would fire anyones amagination.
ReplyDeleteI was there many times as a kid. This was a rest stop and just a time to get out and kick around some. My dad would tell me of coming through that part of the country in covered wagons and that was a stopping point for them also. He said they would back their wagons in for the night. You could still see where the camp fires smoked some of the ceiling area. Always loved stopping there. The road made a sharp turn and went right in front of the cave. When the new highway was built it took away from it. I just found the pic of me sitting out front across the street from the cave sitting on a big rock drinking a dr pepper.
ReplyDeleteIt is now open again to the public... there is a Facebook group
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother told me years ago the cave was named after one of the family members , her last name being Fox . I would like to get more info. Yes it is open.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in SE New Mexico and remember going to Fox Cave on several occasions to listen to concerts. Yes... there is a much larger cave (auditorium-style) behind the store - where I last saw Buck Owens, Buckey-Ray (his son) and Susan Ray back in 1970. Nobody seems to believe me - but I am still close friends with the person who was with me - and she remembers too! Has anyone else ever seen a concert there?
ReplyDeleteAs a very young child, my parents and I visited Fox Cave; I think that was about 1954 or 1955. I am sadden that the place no longer is open because I would have liked to visit it if I was able to visit southern N.M.
ReplyDeleteThe original owner was a man named Fuchs. It was pronounced "fox" and that is where the FOX comes from.
ReplyDeleteI lived in the Ruidoso area for 15 years in the 70's and 80's. The small buildings in front were a project I worked on. They were shops for the tourist trade. The owner was trying to expand to more than the cave gift shop. It never did well and soon closed. Too bad because I always found it to be a pleasant, qualm spot in spite of the traffic. (In the summer) Guess the tourists were too busy getting to the horse races
ReplyDeletemy dad used it as a pit stop on the way to Ruidoso year after year in the late 50's and 60's. i remember how cool it was inside and there was a spring fed drinking fountain coming out of the mountain. i remember a stand across the road selling cider. fond memories of many vacations spent in Ruidoso and the Fox Cave was the landmark that told me we were almost there.
ReplyDeletei visited the Fox Cave in the summer of '12, spoke with a young man working there, and was able to go inside. he and his partners were trying to make a go of it as a gem shop. i could almost smell the leather from the curios that were there when i was a kid.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer of 1953 our family drove from our home in Littlefield, Texas to California to visit relatives. My dad owned a 1948 Studabaker Champ. We took in all the tourist destinations(painted desert, petrified forest, grand canyon etc,)but Fox cave made more of an impression to my 11 year old mind. Billy the Kid!!! If my memory serves me correctly, there was a set of pistols hanging on the wall that said"the only guns in the west that did not kill Billy the Kid. Place made quite an im;pression on me.
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