Edited evening of 15 Jan

Anyone want to chime in? Looks like folks are beginning to plan summer trips. I thought I'd start a list of places one ought to see in New Mexico.


Must see:

Acoma Pueblo
Bandalier Monument
Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge
Capulin
Carlsbad Caverns
Chaco Canyon
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway
Gila Forest/Cliff Dwellings
High Bridge over the Rio Grande
Johnson Mesa
Lechuguilla Cave
Loretta Chapel (Santa Fe)
National Nuclear Museum, Albuquerque
Owl Bar, San Antonio, NM (Green Chile Cheeseburger)
Pecos National Monument
Red River Mine Tours
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
San Juan fly fishing below Navajo Dam
Soda Dam, Jemez Springs
Taos Pueblo
Trinity Site
Valle Vidal
Valles Caldera
Very Large Array
White Sands


Side trips

Blue Hole, Santa Rosa (scuba diving)
Cleveland roller mill, Cleveland
Ft. Sumner (Billy the Kid)
Ft. Union
Four Corners
Fourth of July Canyon (SE of Albuquerque, when the maples are turning)
Gilman Tunnels, Jemez Springs
Ghost Ranch
Lamy
La Posta de Mesilla
Low Bridge on Rio Grande
Salman Ranch store, Mora
Madrid
Mogollon
Questa fish hatchery
Rockhound State Park
Roswell UFO junk
Sandia Peak (cable car or drive up back side)
Terrero general store hummingbirds
White Oaks, NM


Drives

Chama to Durango
Cimarron Canyon (Cimarron to Eagle Nest)
Dry Cimarron River (far NE part of state)
High Road to Taos
Highway 64 from Tierra Amarilla to Tres Piedras
Johnson Mesa
Red River to Questa (back road)
Valle Vidal

Interesting towns

Albuquerque
Cloudcroft
Lincoln
Los Alamos
Red River
Ruiodoso
Santa Fe
Taos


Your contributions are welcome


[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 1/15/2014 8:55p).]

Ruidoso
Cloudcroft

Clovis - Grandparents
Melrose - Homestead - Farm
House - Homestead - Ranch
Ft. Sumner - Billy The Kids grave

Actually outside of Ft. Sumner...none of these places are worth a stop unless you know someone there...which outside of Clovis is highly unlikely.

Hummingbirds in Terrero during the summer

I posted my jaunt through New Mexico a few weeks ago. It was a quick bachelor-ish type trip, but very enjoyable. I thought White Sands was amazing.

Sean visited NM and didn't even let me show him some sights or get him whataburger from Roswell?!?!?!

Most of the places listed above are good.

4 corners monument to stand in 4 states at once is a should do, Ruidoso or cloudcroft is good, fishing bonita lake or the tributaries used to be awesome and should be built back up soon, the Roswell UFO seen is lame other than the UFO museum so that just takes a few hours (plus it's right down the road from Whataburger), the Caverns are cool for a one time visit.

[This message has been edited by BreNayPop (edited 1/14/2014 12:18p).]

I used to love Santa Fe. We'd go about once every other year. It's gone downhill big time. The plaza is still nice , but outside of the plaza it's a hell hole. I still love the pecos wilderness though. Terrero hummingbirds freak me out!

[This message has been edited by Queso1 (edited 1/14/2014 12:23p).]

I ate a Green Chile Whataburger in Roswell, I just didn't realize there was a possibility of getting it fo free!

I'd love to go to the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos.

Very solid list.

Rockhound state park is pretty cool, too.

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Hummingbirds in Terrero during the summer

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More info, please?

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I ate a Green Chile Whataburger in Roswell

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Owl Bar in San Antonio, NM or their Albuquerque location, or forget it. As a side note, the little village of San Antonio is where Conrad Hilton had the first of his Hilton Hotels.

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I'd love to go to the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos

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It's good, but you'd see a lot more nuclear history stuff in the museum in Albuquerque, which I just added to the list. The historical museum in Los Alamos is good, too. PM me if you plan a trip to Los Alamos, I can give you the low down.

Would love to hear from anyone who has visited SW New Mexico or the Indian areas in the NW part of the state. I can find those online, but prefer personal recommendations.


Just updated the list in the OP, will continue to do so if there is interest.



[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 1/14/2014 1:09p).]

Blake's Lotaburger, breakfast burritos with red chile. Especially if they have the carne adovada ones.

Gila wilderness, Turkey and Mule creek areas. Hot springs with the hippies.

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Very solid list.

Rockhound state park is pretty cool, too.

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Good place to go when ditching school.

If you go through Clovis, stop at Leal's for lunch. I wouldn't trade it for any other Mexican restaurants in Santa Fe or Albuquerque. As was said earlier, unless you are visiting family, there isn't much else to see in Clovis.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings are pretty cool and the Gila National Forest/Wilderness is my favorite place in New Mexico. A nice area for some fishing and day hiking can be found where the Mora and Pecos rivers come together right outside of SantaFe.

Chaco Canyon and Acoma need to be on the list.

Mesilla is a great place to visit. There's a terrific Mexican restaurant in the main square there, but I forget the name. The Indian tourist traps on I-40 on the Arizona border can be fun! The area around Pie Town is nice country too.

Hang out with the hippies in the assorted hot springs around Taos.

Climb Wheeler peak, get your tent nibbled on by bighorns.

Drive the Valle Vidal road starting about an hour before sundown and see elk (and bears) like you've never seen before.

Skip Madrid. Wasn't anything special.

Do go see the miracle stair case at the church in Santa Fe.

Albuqurque Old Town is nice too.

Take the cable car up Sandia. Don't drive the back side. It's worth it.

Got up to Eagle Nest Lake/State Park. Gorgeous area.

Red River is an awesome little town too.

Whittington Center

Hang out around the Cuba area and learn all sorts of alternative liquids to get drunk with.

I have nothing to add other than that I really, really miss El Monterrey in Clovis. And Tres Ritos is pretty nice in the summer.

Definitely Valle Vidal like ursus said. Fish the Rio Costilla there.
Latir Lakes
Four wheel up to Goose Lake out of Red River. Then hike the ridge that looks out over Taos Ski Valley.

Additions to the list
-Lechuguilla Cave (the primitive undeveloped "new cave" outside Carlsbad)


-Mogollon


-After visiting the Owl Bar drive over to the Bosque del Apache and see some migratory birds



Jemez Springs


See the Rio Grande from the gorge bridge


Have chile rellenos at La Posta de Mesilla


Hike Baylor Pass to Aguirre Springs over looking WSMR


Hike the west fork of the Gila River Canyon


Eat at Sadie's Dining Room in ABQ

Gila cliff dwellings!!!

And Sean, I owe ya for the invite to teach me to hunt a few years ago when I was in Kansas City... Never took ya up on the offer because I was busy but appreciated it none the less. Also met you and who I assume was derm doc at the Aggies/ku series 2 or 3 years ago.

I agree on the miraculous staircase in Loretta Chapel. If in Santa Fe, it's worth the 15 minutes to just see it and hear the story.

I'm enjoying the response, keep it coming. If you have an argument over my ratings, I'm open to that, too. U90's pick of Jemez Springs is the Soda Dam. The actual springs are scattered all up and down the river, and the town is a little south of the dam.

As far as food, the Leal's in Amarillo is so-so in my opinion, maybe the Clovis one is better. I prefer Tacos Garcia in Amarillo. I've been to Sadies in ABQ, would also recommend Church Street Cafe in Old Town ABQ, and Gabriels north of Santa Fe on 285.

I may add some of my photos later.

National Nuclear Museum, ABQ


B-29 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Cannon AFB, Clovis.
This really has nothing to do with the thread, this is just Dad showing off.
The Thunderbirds in the background are about to take off after an air show.
The girl in the foreground is my then junior-in-high-school daughter.
She is now an Air Force pilot.


IMG_7550 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

White Oaks, NM


Hoyle Mansion, White Oaks NM by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Kelly Mine, Magdelena NM by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Very Large Array


North arm, antennas at widest by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


VLA antenna closeup by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 1/14/2014 9:48p).]

Trinity Site


marker and Oscura Mountains by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

McDonald Ranch House, Trinity


McDonald Ranch House by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Fort Union


Ft. Union wagon repair yard by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Fort Union....talk about the middle of nowhere


Ft. Union, telephoto lens by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Brazos cliffs, east of Chama, NM


Brazos Cliffs from highway 64 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Back road from RR to Questa


Back road from Red River to Questa by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Low bridge on the Rio Grande, Taos


Low Bridge on Rio Grande, Taos by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR


IMG_2046 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

View from C&T RR


IMG_1990 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Haven't mentioned this yet, but here are some swales (eroded ruts) from the Santa Fe Trail in far NE New Mexico


Santa Fe Trail by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Wedding Cake Butte along the Dry Cimarron


Dry Cimmaron River by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Johnson Mesa


Johnson Mesa by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Johnson Mesa


Johnson Mesa by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Valles Caldera, the little dots are grazing elk


Valles Caldera, elk grazing by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

West of Valles Caldera


Untitled by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

A bunch from Valles Caldera:


IMG_9169 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_9166 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_9162 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_9160 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Gilman Tunnels, west of Jemez Springs


IMG_9124 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_9131 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_9121 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


On drive to Gilman tunnels by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

The Leal's in Clovis is much better than the spin off locations. I can't believe the family even let's them put the Leal's name on the location in Muleshoe, it is so bad.

Went to NM 3 yrs ago and saw a few of these sights.

Carlsbad Caverns: If never been, it is a must see. Don't ride the elevator down, take the walk. I went as a kid in the early 70's. Took my son and wife 3 yrs ago. Glad I did. May revisit, because of special tours. These tours book MONTHS in advance.

Roswell: After we had planned out trip, found out it was actually the Roswell Annual Alien Fest or something like that. We expected sightings of some real wingnuts. Well, you would not see them walking down the street because they all looked pretty darn normal. However in the museum they had a couple of celebs one of which was Adriean Barbeu (sp?). If you are old enough to remember you'd remember she was hot during her day (Escape from NY, and others). Pretty neat stuff on the actual crash in the 40's at Roswell. However I witnessed an intense discussion/disagreement between two guys over what alloys the alien space crafts USE. Not might have, but USED. Weird. Also peeked my head into the central meeting room during a meeting on "Hypnotism and Extracting Memories of Alien Abduction" or something like that. No kidding, they had a subject they were getting ready to hypnotize in front of the group. Giggle/snicker, time to go honey. Don't want the wingnut waking up thinkin' he's being probed...

Gorge Bridge: Cool, real cool. Took some really neat pics. A must see like the Caverns. One thing caught my eye. Their was what to appeared to be OLD wreck of a jeep a pretty good way down on a flatter area. Wreckage spread out over a little distance parallel with the bridge. However, it was a way off from the bridge. No one knew anything about it when I asked what seemed to be locals.

Billy the Kidd Museum and subsequent grave site: One of those really cool sights for kids, and adults young at heart. If within 50 miles out of the way on your journey, do it. If you do, don't just gloss over it, read the inscriptions and details. Some really cool old guns on display, along with some cool antiques.

If you go: Brace yourself, the love of Obama is unparalleled to anything I've ever seen. If you saw an Obama sticker on a car, it likely had more than one. I was going to wear my DTOM shirt on the run to Taos and the Gorge Bridge, but my MIL asked me not to, seriously. She is is right wing like me, but was genuinely concerned about the locals starting crap with us if I wore it. Good example...these are artists communities in a large way. We were walking through some and I came across a lady's shop and here genre was painting little paintings with kitchen chairs and tables with a flower arrangement (and other similar with cats/etc), with nice sayings like "going to have a great day...my hope is for love in the family...,etc. While flipping through her happy/love ..blecch..crap in a bin, I came across painting she had done with paintings of dogs with sayings like "10 reasons Sarah Palin is worse than a stray dog" and "Sarah Palin is a *****, and not in a dog way.." etc. In Santa Fe, shops had signs in the windows that had rainbows with common wording that said something along the lines of "We support gheys, and not those that don't" < very shortened and not near as nicely written as they did but the message was clear. Also, every highway and street job we saw had a sign saying the job was funded by the "American whatever the fleecing of the taxpayer act" that Obama forced on us and the symbol that looked eerily like his O logo.

Overall I like the state's landmark sights we saw, however in some ways, it was like they took American money in a foreign country compared to Texas.

Yes, NM is pretty liberal, especially Santa Fe and Taos. I really don't like the smell of pot, and Taos is pretty much the capital of pot smoking in the state. It the square or Pueblo about an hour after dark and pot is shockingly easy to find. Hippies like pretty country, look one state to the north.

The cemetery where Billy the Kid was possibly buried washed away in a flood.
Any "grave site" is pure conjecture/tourist trap.
When visiting the High Bridge on the Rio, go a little further west and look at the "earthship" hippie houses.
Yep, NM is liberal.
I think their slogan ought to be "It's like a whole other country", not Texas.
Santa Fe is the only place I've recently heard Liberal talk radio. Boooooooooooooring!

We ain't libs!!! The southeast and southwest are not liberal at all. The closer you get to the big cities or art the closer you get to liberal hell.