The Rio Ruidoso is a long

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

located in the Sierra Blanca and

Sacramento Mountains The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...

in Lincoln County and

Otero County, New Mexico Otero County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,797. Its county seat is Alamogordo. Its southern boundary is the Texas state line. It is named for Miguel Antonio Otero, the territo ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and is part of the Rio Ruidoso Watershed. The Spanish term, ''río ruidoso'', translated into English means literally "noisy river". The

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the Rio Ruidoso are located near the top of Sierra Blanca Peak, in the rugged Sierra Blanca mountains, which is located within the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. The upper reaches of the river are divided into three forks, the longest of which is the North Fork of the Rio Ruidoso. It begins on the north side of Sierra Blanca at Ice Spring near the

Ski Apache Ski Apache is a ski resort located in southern New Mexico on the slopes of Sierra Blanca mountains. It is owned and operated, since 1963, by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Ski Apache was the only ski resort in New Mexico with its own gondola lift, ...

ski area. The south and middle forks begin on the south side of the mountain. They merge in Cow Canyon approximately west of the point at which the south fork merges with the north fork. From there, the river winds its way down through the

, which are part of the

Lincoln National Forest Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, the forest begins near the Texas border and contains lands in parts of ...

and through the village of Ruidoso, which was named after the river. Just east of Ruidoso two major tributaries, Cedar Creek and Carrizo Creek flow into the Rio Ruidoso. Along its course, the river drops in elevation. Just west of

Hondo, New Mexico Hondo is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about thirty-five miles downstream (east) from Ruidoso Downs, where the Rio Bonito and Rio Ruidoso rivers join together to form the Rio Hondo. It ...

the river merges with the Rio Bonito to form the Rio Hondo. Several fish species live within the waters of the Rio Ruidoso, including: *

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

Brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

Rio Grande cutthroat trout The Rio Grande cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis''), a member of the family Salmonidae, is found in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in tributaries of the Rio Grande. It is one of 14 subspecies of cutthroat trout nat ...

See also