All roads lead to Deming, where ducks, gemstones, and Old West charm enliven this spirited town.
Before duck racing, you need a duck. “That’s the main event Saturday and Sunday,” says John Richmond, a board member and organizer for Deming’s Great American Duck Race, an annual festival that swells the small community of about 15,000 to roughly double its size every August.
Don’t have your own waterfowl? No need for ruffled feathers. Raised in Deming especially for racing, the Duck Race’s plucky mallards are provided to contestants and entered into categories ranging from the popular Kid’s Race to the Interstate Race of Champions for a $5 fee. What began in 1980 has grown to include a parade, carnival, hot-air balloons, duck royalty pageant, outhouse races, a tortilla toss, and more. But the ducks make the festivities truly take flight.
The citywide festival was born out of Deming’s agricultural roots—a place where growing green chile, onions, pecans, and pumpkins remains an important cog in the city’s economy—when a group of locals hatched the idea for an event more than 45 years ago. “I have a bunch of ducks,” one of the men offered. “Want to race them?” The group began sketching ideas for a track on a cocktail napkin, and the plucky weekend grew from there.
Tucked in New Mexico’s sandy southern stretch, about 35 minutes north of the U.S.–Mexico border, Deming’s past stretches back more than 1,000 years, when the Mimbres people lived here. The culture, which thrived in the region from AD 1000 to 1130 before mysteriously disappearing, is known for its beautiful black-on-white pottery. Today, you can see fine examples of Mimbres pottery and artifacts at the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum.
Deming’s Historic Landmark Walking Tour takes visitors past the downtown commercial district, filled with beautiful historic buildings. Highlights include the Baker Hotel, built in 1912 and once the meeting place of the area’s cattlemen and power brokers, and the Customs House, built in 1889 near the Southern Pacific Railroad as a hub of trade and commerce.
For those who enjoy a side of history with their meal, the Adobe Deli serves up famous rib eyes, giant kebabs, and French onion soup in the former Lewis Flats School. The rambling steakhouse and saloon is filled with Old West artifacts, taxidermy, and possibly a few ghosts. (Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures filmed an episode there in 2018.)
Other spirits (wine, that is) can be found on the patio of D.H. Lescombes Winery & Tasting Room, where wine flights showcase vintages from the oldest wine-producing region in the country.
If the family isn’t satisfied with letting the ducks do all the splashing, Deming’s newest attraction, the Inflatable Water Park at Trees Lake, provides hours of high-energy fun as people of all ages can bounce, slide, climb, jump, and splash on the water.
As it has for centuries, Deming continues to serve as a crossroads, where NM 26, US 180, and I-10 converge. Surrounding the community are some of New Mexico’s most amazing geological features, which have attracted travelers for generations. See the towering formations of the City of Rocks State Park, the minerals and geodes of Rockhound State Park, and the endless opportunities for nature lovers at the 3.3-million-acre Gila National Forest.
Deming’s unique location between the City of Rocks, where 40-foot-tall sculpted rock columns were created by an ancient volcanic eruption, and Rockhound state parks has made the city a destination for both geologists and collectors who just love exploring. Each year, the city celebrates that connection with the RockHound RoundUp in March.
Hosted by the Deming Gem & Mineral Society, the four-day event features field trips to private claims to collect onyx, geodes, agate, and other gemstones, as well as auctions, demonstrations, kids’ activities, and a buyers’ market at the Southwestern New Mexico State Fairgrounds.
Marilyn Page, the roundup’s co-chair, is a lifelong rockhound. She says visitors can expect well over 100 vendors from across the globe, including rock and mineral sellers from Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Africa. “Everybody comes back each year,” says Page, who estimates she has more than 1,000 rocks in her own yard. “We make sure that everybody gets something nice.”
And that might just be Deming’s mantra, whether you’re leaving with a prized piece of onyx, a duck race trophy, or a few bottles of wine.
