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Capitan New Mexico Map

Explore Capitan, New Mexico, with this interactive street and satellite map.

This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.

Interactive Map of Capitan, New Mexico

How to Use This Capitan, New Mexico Map

This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Capitan, New Mexico. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of New Mexico or beyond.

Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).

TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Capitan.

Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.

Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.

City	Capitan
State	New Mexico (NM)
County	Lincoln County
Country	United States of America
Timezone	Mountain Time (America/Denver)

Latitude	33.539248
Longitude	-105.598242
Population	1,391
Density	164.8 /km²
Incorporated	Yes
ZIP Code	88316
Area Code	575
County Seat	Carrizozo
School District	Capitan Municipal Schools

🌦 Goto Capitan Weather Page: Capitan, New Mexico — Weather Warnings, Forecast, Radar, Satellite & Current Conditions

About Capitan, New Mexico

Capitan is a locality in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. It has a population of approximately 1,391. The population density is 164.8 people per km². Capitan is located at 33.5392°N, 105.5982°W. It observes the Mountain Time (America/Denver) timezone. Capitan is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 88316.

Capitan holds the parched, high-altitude stillness of the New Mexico landscape, where the Salado Creek traces a thin, seasonal line through the valley floor. It lies 49.9 miles north-northeast of Alamogordo, NM (from Alamogordo, NM: bearing 27°T), and is situated 15.9 miles north-northeast of Ruidoso. The air here carries a sharp, resinous scent of dry earth and sage, cooling rapidly as the sun retreats behind the distant silhouette of the Sacramento Mountains. To the west, the terrain shifts into the rugged, broken anatomy of Gyp Spring Canyon, while the verdant borders of Lincoln National Forest rise just a mile away, offering a dense contrast to the sun-bleached plains. West Spur Tank sits in quiet isolation a few miles out, a small lens of water reflecting the vast, violet-streaked sky that defines the transition between the basin and the higher, forested elevations.

Capitan remains forever tethered to the legacy of the most famous bear cub in American conservation history, a narrative that defines the regional identity and draws the curious to the nearby Smokey Bear Ranger District. The local economy relies on this enduring connection to the wild, alongside the steady, quiet rhythms of ranching and the seasonal cycles of the high desert. Life in Capitan moves at the pace of shifting shadows across the adobe and metal facades, where the heritage of the frontier persists in the simple, sturdy architecture of the main street. Travelers who wander toward the Tucson Mountain Trail find a landscape that demands a slower, more deliberate gait, where the history of the region is not merely remembered, but felt in the persistent, dry heat and the expansive, unhurried horizon.

Nearby Outdoor Places

Lincoln National Forest (National Forest) — 0.9 mi, 062° NE · 1.1M acres
Fort Stanton - Snowy River National Conservation Area (National Conservation Area) — 2.6 mi, 175° S · 28k acres
Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts (Theatre) — 7.2 mi, 182° S
White Mountain Wilderness (Wilderness Area) — 7.9 mi, 215° SW · 47k acres
Capitan Mountains Wilderness (Wilderness Area) — 9.2 mi, 056° NE · 36k acres
Skyline Recreation Area Recreation Area (Recreation Area) — 10.9 mi, 225° SW
Fox Cave (Attraction) — 12.2 mi, 157° SE
Lincoln County Courthouse Historic Site (Attraction) — 12.4 mi, 105° E
Links at Sierra Blanca (Local Park) — 12.4 mi, 197° S
Windy Point (Viewpoint) — 13.8 mi, 224° SW
Museum of the Horse (Museum) — 14.4 mi, 179° S
Ruidoso River Museum (Museum) — 14.9 mi, 199° S
Old Mill (Historic Ruins) — 15.2 mi, 191° S
Goeway & Lemons (Gallery) — 17.2 mi, 294° NW
Carrizozo Heritage Museum (Museum) — 17.3 mi, 295° NW
Frozen Food Locker Museum (Museum) — 17.3 mi, 295° NW
Malkerson, Payne, Peretti, Pia, & Lemons (Gallery) — 17.5 mi, 294° NW
Cohen & Danielle (Gallery) — 17.5 mi, 294° NW
Donkey Statue (Public Artwork) — 17.7 mi, 295° NW
Little Black Peak Wilderness Study Area (Wilderness Study Area) — 20.3 mi, 302° NW · 15k acres
Historic Lincoln (Attraction) — 21.3 mi, 119° SE
Carrizozo Lava Flow Wilderness Study Area (Wilderness Study Area) — 21.4 mi, 298° NW · 10k acres
UFO Alien Crash Communion Wall (Attraction) — 23.8 mi, 078° E
Roswell Cave Complex Area of Critical Environmental Concern (Area of Critical Environmental Concern) — 24.1 mi, 017° N
Samson Miller Memorial Rodeo Arena (Stadium) — 27.5 mi, 200° S
Casper Baca Memorial Stadium (Stadium) — 27.6 mi, 200° S
Sacramento Mountains Historical Society Museum (Museum) — 40.9 mi, 191° S
Cibola National Forest (National Forest) — 42.5 mi, 349° N · 1.6M acres
White Sands National Park (National Park) — 56.1 mi, 215° SW · 148k acres
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 65.4 mi, 087° E · 50k acres

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