The Rio Ruidoso, the Noisy River

Roll down your window in the middle of town and, if the water is running, you may hear the very thing that named this whole place. In Spanish, rio ruidoso means the noisy river, from the word ruido, meaning noise, and that is exactly what the settlers heard. The Rio Ruidoso begins as snowmelt near the very top of Sierra Blanca, then races down through the mountains, cascading over rocks and pebbles with a constant rushing roar loud enough that people named the stream and then the town after the sound itself.

Along the eastern foothills of White Mountain, a retired army captain named Paul Dowlin built a mill where the river met Carrizo Creek, and around it a settlement slowly grew. The village that became Ruidoso took its name straight from the water. Today the same river runs right through the heart of town, past the shops and galleries and restaurants strung along Sudderth Drive, where you can browse Western antiques and Native art with the noisy river never far from earshot.

It is a rare town that is named for a sound. Stop, and listen for it.