2017 Map of Day Canyon

About this map

Buffalo Lake sits at the center of this 2017 survey, marking a significant hydrologic feature in a landscape defined by sharp elevation changes along the border of Quay and Curry counties. This map captures the breaks and canyons that interrupt the high plains, where the terrain drops from the mesas of Park Hill and Round Mtn into the drainage systems of Day Canyon and Taylor Canyon. The survey illustrates the rigid, rectilinear grid of rural roads—such as Curry Road 47 and Quay Road 50—contrasted against the winding natural contours of the canyon floors and ridges like Boney Hill and Rusk Hill. This intersection of systematic land division and complex topography reveals the challenges of ranching and settlement in the New Mexico high desert during the early twenty-first century.