Las Cruces, NM Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 20-35 of the Code of Ordinances draws a hard line between the Downtown Mall and every other city park. Roller skating, skateboarding and the use of in-line skates is flatly prohibited on the Downtown Mall, with no exception for designated zones there. In all other city parks, the same activities are permitted only in areas the parks and recreation department has designated for that use, meaning open lawns, walkways and other undesignated park space remain off-limits to skaters and skateboarders even where the general public is otherwise free to walk.

The rule sits within Chapter 20's parks article, alongside companion limits on bicycles, which are confined to paved roads and bike paths, and horseback riding, restricted to designated bridle trails, reflecting a broader pattern of channeling wheeled and animal traffic away from general pedestrian park space. Enforcement runs through Section 20-30: a violation of the parks article is a petty misdemeanor punishable in line with the Code's general penalty in Section 1-10, and park rangers, the parks superintendent, the recreation superintendent and other city officials designated by the city manager all have authority to eject a violator from the park.

Section 20-35 was adopted by Ordinance No. 1962 in November 2002, amending the original 1988 parks code, and the Downtown Mall skating ban has applied continuously since that amendment took effect.