I have two weeks to spend in the El Paso/Las Cruces area. What’s a must to see and do? As for the weekend, has anyone been to White Sands? Valley of Fires? or, Rock Hound State Park? If you had to pick one, which makes the greatest impression? (I hear Rock Hound State Park may take some effort to bring home some nice mineral samples from the outcrops there. Is it still worth seeing?)
So, what’s out and about these towns for someone who never gets out West much?
Well, depending on where you are starting from, White Sands is an hour or two away. You can see a decent amount in a few hours if you want. Rock Hound is not that easy to find and if you’re not that interested in rocks you had better be interested in the area itself. If you’re going to be here long enough, drive to Carlsbad and be prepared to spend a night. It’s not a particularly quick drive from either city, but it’s a shorter drive from El Paso. (I recently made a big circle from Albuquerque to Carlsbad back to Las Cruces going through El Paso.)
It really all depends on how much driving you’re willing to do.
I like the border museum in El Paso.
Heck, just go out to eat and love the Tex Mex and Mexican cusine. If you’re there during baseball season, go to see the El Paso Diablos.
UTEP has an interesting campus.
Carlsbad Caverns are great. I love how they’re a “manageable” attraction…you don’t have to spend a week there to see and enjoy. Worth the drive, IMO.
White Sands didn’t do much for me.
Old Mesilla (technically a historic district of Las Cruces, I think) is cool. They used to have a theater there and may still…you can watch a film sitting on a couch or chair like you’d have at home, they sell wine in the back, etc. Overall, I think Las Cruces is about 100x more happening than El Paso.
Cattlemen’s has the best steaks. I think they’re down around Fabens. Forti’s (in El Paso) has good Tex Mex.
You should probably also head into Juarez. Even if you’re not into shopping, you will find things worth buying. Whatever you do, don’t stray from the group etc. however.
Sunland Park, NM has a racetrack if you like that sort of thing.
You might also enjoy driving up Rim Road and/or Transmountain Highway to get a view of the city lights at night.
Oh yeah, and you might enjoy Hueco Tanks
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/hueco_tanks/
We went to New Mexico in October 2006 and basically toured the whole state… well as much as you can see in a week.
White Sands Nat’l Monument was cool, if you like stuff like that. Carlsbad Caverns (take the natural entrance trail) is worth the trip if you feel like venturing that far east of Las Cruses/El Paso.
If you do make it into Carlsbad, We found that the Days Inn there is decent and there is this great family run Mexican food place called Lucy’s (on the main road) is really, really good.
If you are interested you should look to see when the Very Large Array (radiotelescope array) is doing its quarterly open house. They give free guided tours of the array and control building. It is west of Socorro by about 60 miles.
Also, the government opens up the WS missile range twice a year, and you can go out to the Trinity Site and check it out. (Not exactly sure of the dates, but you can find out on Google, I suppose. We found the date when we went in Make magazine.)
I visited Carlsbad Caverns as a kid and I still fondly remember it.
Definitely go to Carlsbad Caverns. Also, the “Million Dollar Museum” in White’s City, just outside the caverns, is worth a visit.
I didn’t see much of interest in Rock Hound State Park, but I’m not necessarily an experienced rock-hunter, so maybe I just didn’t know what to look for.
The only thing I remember about El Paso was that the softest beds I’ve ever slept in was in a hotel off exit 16 of the I-10. Sadly, I don’t recall the name of the hotel (we’re talking about 12 years ago here), but it wasn’t one of the chains.
You forgot El Paso’s biggest attractions:
never spent time in Las Cruces per se, but this rest stop on I-10 is perhaps the best night-time scenic overlook of a city I’ve ever seen (although marred by a fence keeping you from the cliffs/rocks.) Probably has to do with the fact that the town abruptly ends so the division between city and countryside is clear.
Thanks all for the ideas. I have no interest (nor passport) to see Mexico.
I’ll be staying in El Paso. What time zone is that? It seems far enough west to be Mountain Time! What about if I go north into NM? Will that put me on Mountain Time?
Yes, it’s MST, as is Las Cruces. Carlsbad Caverns are CST I think.
Nope. All of New Mexico is on MST (or MDT as it will be when you get here.) As long as you’re in the part of Texas under New Mexico, you’ll be on Mountain time.