Introduction

In the far northeast corner of New Mexico lies Union County. Bordering the Colorado, Texas and the Oklahoma panhandle, Union County is home to national grasslands, large ranches and dinosaur tracks. The county's largest city, Clayton, offers golf, parks, museums and the Union County Fairgrounds. Nearby attractions include sites along the Historic Santa Fe Trail, Outlaw Black Jack Ketchum's gravesite and the Kiowa National Grasslands. Folsom, site of the discovery of Folsom Man from ca. 12,000 BC, lies between Clayton and Raton. Capulin Volcano National Monument offers views of New Mexico and parts of four contiguous states: Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma.

More than 500 dinosaur tracks were discovered at Clayton Lake State Park in the early 1980s. Their age is estimated at 100 million years, in the late age of dinosaurs. Every April, dinosaur days are held in Clayton. An arts festival takes place each October and the city hosts the Union County Fair in August of each year.

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