Welcome to Ruidoso Downs ...

The village of Ruidoso Downs is located in southeast New Mexico.

Ruidoso Downs is located in Lincoln County<1>.

The location of Ruidoso Downs has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Ruidoso Downs, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1958.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Ruidoso Downs has a population of 2,612 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Ruidoso Downs is 6,400 feet [1,951 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of Ruidoso Downs is about 1¼ mile [or ~2 km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Ruidoso Downs lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

The area code for Ruidoso Downs: (575)

Websites for Ruidoso Downs ...

Official Website: www.ruidosodowns.us/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Ruidoso Downs had an population of 2,612 people. This is a decrease of 7.21% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 43.2% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Ruidoso Downs had a population of 2,815 people (which is 13.77% of the total population of Lincoln County). This makes Ruidoso Downs the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Ruidoso Downs represents 0.14% of the population of New Mexico (which has 2,059,179 people), making it the state's 42nd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,815 people, the population of Ruidoso Downs increased 54.33% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,824 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Ruidoso Downs.

Communities near Ruidoso Downs ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ruidoso Downs.

• Ruidoso
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso
  • Ruidoso is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,061 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso <5>
• Capitan
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitan
  • Capitan is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,457 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Capitan <5>
• Alpine Cellars Village
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Cellars Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Cellars Village
  • Alpine Cellars Village is located in Lincoln County
• Alto
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
  • Alto is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <5>
• Carrizo
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizo
  • Carrizo is located in Otero County
• Sierra Vista
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Vista
  • Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County
• Sun Valley
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
  • Sun Valley is located in Lincoln County
• Glencoe
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
  • Glencoe is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glencoe <5>
• Bonito
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
  • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
• Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
  • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ruidoso Downs. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ruidoso Downs.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ruidoso Downs. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ruidoso Downs.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruidoso Downs. See our Newspapers Page for Ruidoso Downs.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ruidoso Downs ...

Looking for more information about Ruidoso Downs? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Ruidoso Downs, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Ruidoso Downs.

Adding Ruidoso Downs to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Ruidoso Downs in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Ruidoso Downs was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Ruidoso Downs post office opened in 1958.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Ruidoso Downs.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Ruidoso Downs: www.ruidosodowns.us/

The official website for State of New Mexico: https://www.nm.gov/