Kin Kletso at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Photo © William Silver/123rf.
New Mexico travel maps by region
In this article, author Zora O’Neill points you to the top draws in each of region of New Mexico.If you have five days, visit Santa Fe, with an overnight trip to Taos. If you have one week, cruise the Navajo Nation in the northwest, or concentrate on Albuquerque and Santa Fe. With two weeks to travel, follow the New Mexico Road Trip itinerary, or cover most of the southwest and southeast. If you have three weeks or more, go wild: You have time for backpacking, rafting trips, or other wilderness excursions.
A modern Western city, Albuquerque sprawls over more than 100 square miles at the base of the Sandia Mountains. It’s proud of its Route 66 style, and it’s also preserving farmland along the Rio Grande and redesigning itself as a green city. Head north to Santa Fe via the ghost towns of the Turquoise Trail, the hot springs in the Jemez Mountains, or the solitary wilderness of the Valles Caldera.
New Mexico’s picturesque capital has a human scale and a golden glow (partly from the loads of money spent here). Museums are a major draw—for state history, folk art, and more—as are the scores of galleries. Outside of town are the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument; the scenery of Abiquiu, which inspired painter Georgia O’Keeffe; and Los Alamos, birthplace of the A-bomb.
Taos melds artists, spiritual seekers, and ski bums—plus centuries-old Spanish and American Indian families. Make time to enjoy the atmosphere, cultivated in coffee shops and creative restaurants. A good day drive is the Enchanted Circle, a loop of two-lane roads with Wheeler Peak, the highest in New Mexico, at the center. Or head over the mountains to Chama, home to a historic steam train that forges the pass to Colorado.
Past the Pecos Mountains, Las Vegas, a.k.a. Meadow City, is a well-preserved historic town, often used as a Western film set. From there, the terrain, where the Santa Fe Trail once ran, is all short-grass prairie, once the western edge of the Dust Bowl. To get a view, drive the spiral road up Capulin Volcano, then soar across gorgeous Johnson Mesa to the mountain burgs of Raton and Cimarron.
Stark volcanic landscape, lonesome roads, and tall mesas—this is some of the most dramatic desert terrain in the state, along with its oldest cultures. This quadrant (often called Four Corners, as it abuts three other states) is where the Ancestral Puebloans lived in Chaco Canyon, and where Gallup is the self-proclaimed American Indian capital. The city is surrounded by hiking and mountain biking trails.
This corner of the state has both the rugged Gila Wilderness and the mesmerizing Chihuahuan Desert. It’s a long drive between the river-fed farmland around Las Cruces and colorful, artsy Silver City, tucked in the mountains, but worth it—especially for the food-focused, who will find a number of excellent restaurants. Truth or Consequences reels in the curious, delivering hot springs and quirkiness.
Parts of this area feel more like neighboring Texas: Many flatland towns are dominated by the oil industry, and ski spots like Ruidoso are beloved by Texans. Most visitors make a beeline to the amazing natural wonders of White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. On the way, you can track outlaw Billy the Kid, who dueled in the mountain town of Lincoln, now an excellent outdoor museum.
Excerpted from the Ninth Edition of Moon New Mexico.
