This summer (probably in early August) we’re planning to vacation in New Mexico. Our kids will be ages 10 and 9. We’ll fly into Albuquereque and do touristy stuff there, and rent a car to experience Carlsbad Caverns, Alamogordo, White Sands, and the Very Large Array.
We’d also like to visit some Native American sites. I’ve been doing some research so far, but I’d like to hear where you have been, and if you would recommend it to others. Photography is a big hobby of mine, so I would prefer to go to places that allow it. (I understand that some locations and ceremonies do not allow photography at all, and others charge a fee.)
Also, what other locations in New Mexico are famous for their scenic beauty, or other photographic interest?
I don’t know about scenic beauty or photographic interest, but last year Hubster and I had planned to go to Roswell. Our wedding anniversary is June 30th, and it turns out that was the beginning of Annual Roswell Days, or some such frivolity.
People dress up like aliens, and there are activities and parades. Terribly campy and no doubt extremely commercialized, but it sounded like fun. Too bad I got sick and we couldn’t go.
~VOW
I’ve lived in New Mexico for 12 years and I love it here. Some interesting places in the southeastern part of the state: Valley of Fires, an extensive lava flow with a very nice loop trail. It’s just west of Carrizozo on Hwy. 380. Continuing east on 380 you’ll come to Capitan with the Smokey Bear Museum. Farther east is Lincoln, a historic town at the center of the Lincoln County Wars. There you can visit the jail that Billy the Kid escaped from.
Between Carrizozo and Alamogordo on Hwy. 54 is the Three Rivers Petroglyph site with thousands of petroglyphs, some over 1000 years old.
The Acoma Pueblo (Sky City) is a great stop. It’s a very old pueblo situated on top of a mesa, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the US. You can take a tour, get some local food (the bread is great!) and buy some of their distinctive pottery.
Bandelier national monument is a good native american spot. It’s fun for the kids since you get to climb up into some old cliff dwellings. It is up north of ABQ though, so maybe out of your way.
Hopefully you’re also planning to ride the tram in Albuquerque.
I can highly recommend Tent Rocks. Really cool rock formations, and a pretty nice hike. At one point you go through a slot canyon that I’m guessing a couple kids would get a real kick out of.
Some touristy things to do in Albuquerque: ride the Tram to the top of Sandia Peak for some spectacular views. I’d go in late afternoon so you can watch the city lights come on. The restaurant at the top is expensive, the one at the bottom less so. County Line BBQ, at Tramway Blvd. and Tramway Road (you’ll pass it on the way to the Tram) is good.
For some great New Mexican food in Albuquerque, visit Sadie’s. It’s very popular and gets crowded but the food is really good. Reasonably priced, too. The Frontier Restaurant on Central is another good place to eat.
VOW mentioned Roswell; the UFO Museum there might appeal to the kids.
Chacoguy mentioned Taos Pueblo and Chaco Canyon, I’ll second them. If you go up to Taos visit the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, one of the highest in the US. Chaco Canyon has some very impressive cliff dwellings. It’s a long drive up there, the last 15 miles on a good condition gravel road. No facilities to speak of.
Tangent mentioned Acoma Pueblo- definitely worth a visit.
Bandelier and Tent Rocks are two more excellent suggestions.
I could go on and on, and I will, but I have to do some work while I’m here!
Something to keep in mind- it can get pretty hot in New Mexico in the summer, especially in the southern part of the state. Not like Phoenix or Las Vegas but still very warm. I’d recommend doing any outdoor stuff (hikes, White Sands) before noon and visiting museums, shops or Carlsbad Caverns in the afternoon.
Keep a case of water in the car and hydrate frequently. And use plenty of sunscreen!
In the general vicinity of Bandelier and Tent Rocks is Valles Caldera.
If your trip takes you out past Santa Fe and points east, Pecos National Historic Park is worth a stop. Further east is Las Vegas, where they’ve tried to preserve a 50s main street vibe to attract movie makers (Red Dawn and Easy Rider to name a couple). Keep going east and you can visit Fort Union. And, if don’t mind driving almost all the way to Colorado, Capulin Volcano National Monument is worth visiting for the spectacular views of the volcanic fields and out over the edge of the great plains.
Most of the Native American sites you are going to want to visit, the various pubelos, are going to be in the north around Albuquerque and Santa Fe. White Sands and Carlsbad are in the south, and southeast. Google maps gives it as a roughly five hour drive between ABQ and Carlsbad. Some of that driving is very pretty, but you have to be in the mind to enjoy it. I find those landscapes are best at dawn and dusk. There is a stretch between Roswell and Carlsbad, should you go that way, that is very lonely. You will see signs warning you not to pickup hitchhikers, they are likely escaped prisoners from the state prison. Tumbleweeds are a danger to your car if it is windy, which it is most of the time. Listen to the words of advice about the heat, and it is a dry heat so hydrate.
Carlsbad caverns are wonderful. Be there for the bats at sunrise or sunset. There are other caves in the National Park besides the main caverns, look into those as they are not as developed as Carlsbad.
I hope you’re going to include as the “touristy stuff” in ABQ trips to the Rio Grande Zoo, the Aquarium, and the Natural History Museum. Your kids are at just the right ages to appreciate all that stuff. It’s probably not the best municipal aquarium you’ll ever see, but I love the zoo and the museum, as did my 4 year old. The Albuquerque zoo is awesome. Make sure you’re there in time to feed the giraffes.
Also, while you’re in Alamagordo, the Museum of Space History is interesting, and they have a nice little zoo that only charged $1.10 admission (a few years ago).
Roswell also has a small zoo that’s free, but it’s pretty crappy.
If you get a chance, I strongly recommend visiting the Jemez Mountains northwest of ABQ. Some of the nicest scenery you’ll see anywhere- red rock cliffs & rock formations, a beautiful river flowing through a rugged canyon, waterfalls, Soda Dam (the kids will love climbing on and in it), Battleship Rock, the town of Jemez Springs- it’s one of my favorite places in the world. I go hiking and camping there all the time.
Edit: I forgot to mention Jemez Pueblo, where you can stop at a roadside stand and get a bite to eat.
Morbidly geeky is the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque. Lots of cold war hardware, spare casings for Fat Man and Little Boy devices, and a number of hands-on sciencey exhibits for the kids.
Not sure where you are from, but NM could be a shock. You could fit a handful of Eastern states into New Mexico, and have room left over, yet the population of the state is less than a big eastern city…meaning there is a whole lot of nothing in between the interesting stuff. Getting to Carlsbad from Albuquerque will use up an entire day. Pay attention to your gas gauge, as there some stretches where gas stations are quite thin on the ground. At Carlsbad, see if they are still doing the tours of “new cave”. It was a lot nicer than the main cavern. No paved path, no lights. You hike in to the locked gate, and a couple rangers show up with coleman lanterns and take you in.
Lots of the state looks like a Roadrunner cartoon. (state bird, BTW…and fairly common, watch for them!) With sandstone mesas and interesting rock formations. Acoma Pueblo would involve driving through a lot of that, and it is the oldest continuously inhabited site in North America. A little farther West is the El Malpais lava flow, so you will have the Roadrunner mesas sticking up from black lava rock.
There is a big chunk in the northeast corner that is windswept prairie, and that extends along the whole Texas state line as far as Roswell and Artesia. The Sangre de Cristos are the Southern end of the Rockies, and the area around Angelfire and Red River is pretty spectacular, and the altitude will make it a bit cooler in August. Pay attention to fire reports, as it has been a hot dry winter, and it could be a nasty summer for wildfires. The state is big enough you can still come, just may not be able to go some of the places you planned.
August is a little early, but with the oddball weather you might catch a tarantula migration. I’ve seen 20-30 per mile crossing the highway once.
I also think highly of the Los Alamos museum. Your kids will enjoy the cave dwellings of Puye Cliffs, just outside Española. They don’t have the interpretive panels of Mesa Verde or other places, but the kids can actually pretend to be Indians and edge their way along the cliffs.
One of my favorite scenic drives, partly because it’s so different from the desert cliffs of much of the state, is along SH 434 south of Angel Fire. Don’t go too far out of your way, but if you’re in that part of Colfax County…
When you visit the Very Large Array, keep an eye out for prong-horn antelope (not a true antelope). They’re pretty common in that area. About 30-40 miles west of the VLA is Pie Town, where you can get a pie!
One thing I’ll mention, but I don’t think it will fit in with your time frame: The Trinity Test site is open twice a year, the first weekend in April and October. I enjoyed that.
Stay two nights in Carlsbad. You can easily spend all day in the caverns.
If you visit White Sands, wear lots of sunscreen. The gypsum sand reflects ultraviolet, and you can get sunburned in places you didn’t know you had. During the summertime, on nights of the full moon, White Sands stays open all night. The dunes look beautiful by moonlight.
