An ridge called La Mesa rises to 9,112 feet (2,777 m) in elevation above the park to the east, and to the west is the Rincon subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

[1] The oldest rocks visible in Coyote Creek State Park were deposited during the Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian between 320 and 250 million years ago.

70 million years ago the Laramide orogeny uplifted the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, steeply tilting the earlier sediments down to the east.

Upon hitting the softer Pennsylvanian sediments, however, the creek began carving downward, creating a valley with a steep east wall and a more gradual slope to the west.

[3] Mammals known to inhabit the immediate area include black bears, cougars, elk, mule deer, red and gray foxes, bobcats, coyotes, skunks, and porcupines.

Numerous bird species have been identified in the park, and the endangered southwestern subspecies of the willow flycatcher nests and breeds along Coyote Creek.

However Stephen Benton Elkins and Thomas B. Catron began buying up community lands, so in defense the residents of Guadalupita divided up and privatized the remaining common parcels in 1889.

[1] Coyote Creek State Park was greatly expanded in size in 2004 with the purchase and donation of 382 acres (155 ha) by The Trust for Public Land.