New Mexico Travel Guide
New Mexico, billed as the 'land of enchantment', is a geological
wonderland featuring everything from the high Rocky Mountain ranges
of the north, the Chihuahuan Desert in the south, the great plains
in the east, the spectacular canyons of the west and, cutting right
through the centre, the Rio Grande, a river much revered in a state
were water is sacred. A rich heritage of ancient Native American
culture and Hispanic occupation combines under a bright blue sky,
making a fascinating and colourful mosaic that quite understandably
draws thousands of visitors looking for a destination that brings
surprises at every turn, and reveals hidden treasures behind every
mysterious rock formation.Originally the home of the Anasazi people, who evolved into
today's Pueblo Indians still living in their traditional
settlements, New Mexico was also the scene of territorial wars
between the legendary Apache and Navajo tribes. Along came the
Spanish explorers and by 1610 the capital of Santa Fe had been
founded and settled.Today the dual Spanish and Indian heritage provides for some
fascinating historic attractions in the State, and the 'living
museums' of the pueblos welcome visitors. The state was also home
to some of the most legendary mountain men and notorious cowboys,
like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, not to mention cattle barons
like John Chisum who grew rich rounding up longhorns on the
southeastern plains. From cowboys to alien space ships is a big
leap, but one New Mexico makes with ease in the town of Roswell in
the southeast, where UFO enthusiasts flock to investigate the famed
'Roswell Incident'.Aside from its historic and physical attractions New Mexico has
the special appeal of being caught in a time warp. A laid-back
attitude prevails even in the cities, and the pace is as slow and
languid as the ascent of the myriad of colourful hot-air balloons
that fill the skies over the city of Albuquerque in the
world-famous annual festival.
New Mexico Travel Guide
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New Mexico Travel Guide
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Description:
The perfect awe-inspiring overview of Albuquerque can be had
from nearly one mile (2km) above the city on top of Sandia Crest,
the windy mountaintop where the view is said to extend for over
1,000 miles (1,609km). Simply follow Tramway Boulevard for a few
miles north of the city to board the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway,
the world's longest continuous jigback passenger tramway, which
makes the ascent from the desert foothills to the summit in about
20 minutes. In winter skiers make use of the more than 30 trails
descending from the mountain crest, while in summer hikers and
mountain bikers take the tramway up and enjoy nature on their way
down. Pleasure seekers simply ride to the top to enjoy the view,
which is particularly spectacular at sunset, and enjoy a meal at
the High Finance Restaurant with its picture windows.
Address:
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 856 7325 (tramway), 242 9052 (ski
area)
Email:
info@sandiapeak.com
Website:
www.sandiapeak.com
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Description:
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is designed to give an
introduction to New Mexico's rich Native American cultural heritage
and the 19 individual pueblo communities of the State. The centre
is situated on 12th Street, about a mile northeast of the Old Town
in Albuquerque, and is a recreation of Pueblo Bonito, a ruined
Indian village in the Chaco Culture National Historic Park dating
from the 9th century. The centre also features a museum displaying
early photographs, artefacts and artworks. A restaurant serves
traditional fare and traditional dances are performed by different
tribal groups. Those interested in seeing the real thing can make
an excursion to Pueblo Acoma, 60 miles (96km) west of Albuquerque,
the oldest inhabited village in the United States, situated on a
367-foot (112m) high sandstone rock.
Address:
2401 12th Street
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 843 7270
Email:
Website:
www.indianpueblo.org
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Description:
One of Albuquerque's most enjoyable recreational attractions is
the 17-mile-long (27km) stretch of escarpment of the West Mesa,
entered from Unser Boulevard, that is a treasure-trove of more than
25,000 prehistoric and historic rock carvings or petroglyphs, some
dating as far back as 2,000 years. Maps and information regarding
the geology and history of the area are available from the Las
Imágenes Visitor Center. Hikers can follow various trails to
explore the Boca Negra Canyon, or join rangers on scheduled walks
during the summer months. Picnic areas, drinking water and restroom
facilities are provided.
Address:
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 899 0205
Email:
Website:
www.nps.gov/petr
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Description:
Albuquerque's Rattlesnake Museum is an exciting and educational
experience. Billed as an animal conservation museum the
establishment is dedicated to displaying how rattlesnakes influence
our lives. Exhibits include artefacts, memorabilia and the largest
collection of live rattlesnakes in the world. The snakes, gathered
from North, Central and South America, are kept in specially
recreated habitats.
Address:
202 San Felipe
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 242 6569
Email:
Website:
www.rattlesnakes.com
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Description:
The exciting Museum of Natural History takes visitors on a time
trip through 12 billion years, from the formation of the universe
up to the present day. From the earth's beginnings exhibits,
displays and recreated scenes take you through an erupting volcano,
an ice-age cave, an aquarium, the dinosaur age and a fossil centre,
giant-screen theatre, planetarium and a naturalist centre, to name
just a few of the educational entertainments offered.
Address:
1801 Mountain Road
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 841 2800
Email:
Website:
www.nmnaturalhistory.org
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Description:
The Albuquerque Museum, on the edge of the city's Old Town,
explores New Mexico's past using the largest collection of Spanish
colonial artefacts in the United States. Exhibits like Spanish
armour and swords mingle with a recreated 18th-century adobe house
compound. The museum also pays homage to the Vaqueros, the original
cowboys who rode the range in New Mexico in the 16th century. There
are also hands-on experiences to try like spinning wool, and a
theatre where films about the city are shown regularly. The museum
provides a walking tour of the Old Town area departing at 11am each
day except Monday during spring, summer and fall.
Address:
2000 Mountain Road
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 243 7255
Email:
Website:
www.cabq.gov/museum
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Description:
Travellers who abandon the highway and opt for the scenic byways
will be rewarded with The Turquoise Trail state-designated scenic
and historic route, which runs from Albuquerque to Sante Fe through
the majestic Sandia Mountains, passing through the revived 'ghost'
towns of New Mexico's mining belt. The route begins on NM14 about
16 miles (26km) east of central Albuquerque, covering about 61
miles (98km) before reaching Sante Fe. En route is the Cibola
National Forest, mining towns of Madrid, Golden and Cerrillos
filled with art and craft practitioners, the Tinkertown Museum,
Museum of Archaeology, Old Coal Mine Museum and the Turquoise
Mining Museum.
Address:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Website:
www.turquoisetrail.org
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Description:
The town of Roswell in south-east New Mexico has become the
focus of UFO and alien hunters from all over the world every since
the 'Roswell Incident' in 1947, when an alien craft purportedly
crashed near the town leaving surviving extra-terrestrials.
Conspiracy theorists believe government authorities deliberately
covered up the crash. The incident, as well as a large collection
of UFO-related material, is highlighted at the International UFO
Museum and Research Center in Main Street, Roswell. The museum also
features a worldwide UFO sighting map and a comprehensive library.
Roswell itself is just as UFO-crazy, and you can eat at UFO-themed
cafes, and buy just about anything you can think of with an alien
on it.
Address:
114 North Main Street, Roswell
Postcode:
Telephone:
1-800-822-3545
Email:
Website:
www.iufomrc.com
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Description:
To begin sightseeing in Santa Fe, start where it all began on
the city's historic central Plaza, which is dominated by the adobe
structure known as the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public
building in the United States. The palace was built in 1610 as
Spain's seat of government for what is today the American
Southwest. It still bears the scars of having survived Indian
revolts and occupation, and Mexican Independence; it was later
occupied by Confederate forces when they attempted to take New
Mexico. Fittingly, in 1909, the building was converted into the
Museum of New Mexico and is now the principal of Santa Fe's four
museums, preserving 400 years of the state's history from the 16th
century Spanish explorations through the frontier era to modern
times. Exhibits range from a stagecoach and kitchen utensils to
paintings on bison hide and a state seal made from spoons, quills
and tacks.
Address:
105 W Palace Avenue
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 476 5100
Email:
Website:
www.palaceofthegovernors.org
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Description:
Opposite the Governor's Palace on Santa Fe's historic Plaza
stands a prime example of Pueblo Revival architecture, built in
1917, which houses the state's oldest art museum, home to more than
20,000 works of art. The distinguished collection spans the
historic art colonies of Taos and Santa Fe of the past 100 years,
right up to contemporary art, focussing on the southwest region.
There is also a collection of photographs and two sculpture gardens
housing traditional and abstract works.
Address:
107 W. Palace Avenue
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 476 5072
Email:
Website:
www.mfasantafe.org
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Description:
The most important and comprehensive collection of
cross-cultural folk art in the world is housed in the Santa Fe
Museum of International Folk Art, about two miles (3km) southeast
of the city's central Plaza on the old Sante Fe Trail. Fascinating
for tourists, and a treasure trove for researchers, scholars and
contemporary artisans, the collection of the museum runs to about
125,000 pieces, divided into different categories. Of particular
note are the Spanish Colonial collection, the south-western
Hispanic Art collection of 20th century works, and collections of
international textiles and costumes. There are examples of folk art
from more than 100 different countries.
Address:
706 Camino Lejo, Museum Hill
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 476 1200
Email:
Website:
www.moifa.org
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Description:
The museum dedicated to the work of artist Georgia O'Keefe
opened in 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist who
loved the state of New Mexico so much. Since then the museum has
welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors, who come to enjoy the
exhibition of the works of one of the most important artists of the
20th century. Georgia O'Keefe created imagery that expressed
'wideness and wonder', and was a leading member of one of the
avant-garde art movements in New York in the 1920s. She featured
the high deserts and dramatic cliffs of New Mexico frequently in
her work. The Santa Fe museum's permanent collection contains more
than 130 O'Keefe paintings, drawings and sculptures, the largest
concentration of her work in the world and it is the only museum in
the United States dedicated solely to one woman's work. The gallery
itself is a former Baptist church with adobe walls.
Address:
217 Johnson Street
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 946 1000
Email:
Website:
www.okeeffemuseum.org
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Description:
Although the Loretto Chapel on the Old Santa Fe Trail is no
longer used for worship, it nevertheless remains a place of
congregation, mainly for tourists who come to marvel at the
chapel's 'miraculous' spiral staircase. The chapel, copied from
Sainte-Chapelle Church in Paris, was built in 1873 to serve as
chapel for the Sisters of Loretto's school for young women. The
story goes that when the building was close to completion workers
discovered the design had not left sufficient room for the proposed
staircase to the choir loft. The only answer appeared to be a
cumbersome ladder, which was not an attractive proposition for the
Loretto sisters who decided to pray about the problem to St Joseph.
Their prayers were answered in the form of a carpenter riding a
donkey, who arrived and offered to build a spiral staircase. He
accomplished this with only a saw, hammer and T-square,
manufacturing a miraculous staircase, which is held aloft by no
visible means of support.
Address:
207 Old Santa Fe Trail
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 982 0092
Email:
Website:
www.lorettochapel.com
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Description:
The 'Ranch of the Swallows' (El Rancho de las Golondrinas) is a
living history site that was originally a real ranch, founded in
the early 1700s, today offering an entertaining and educational
attraction about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Santa Fe's central
Plaza. The ranch was once the last stopping place on the
thousand-mile (1,609km) El Camino Real (Royal Road) between Mexico
City and Santa Fe. It has been fully restored as a living village
with costumed villagers portraying life in early New Mexico. The
first weekend in June brings the Spring Festival, and the first
weekend in October is devoted to a Harvest Festival, which are
highlights on the ranch calendar. Other special events include a
Rennaissance Festival and Wine Festival. Every day, however,
visitors can explore the hacienda, village store, schoolhouse,
chapels, kitchens and other buildings on the ranch, pet farm
animals and watch operations in the working molasses mill,
blacksmith shop, shearing and weaving rooms, winery and so on.
Address:
334 Los Pinos Road
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 471 2261
Email:
Website:
www.golondrinas.org
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Description:
The laid-back mountain resort town of Taos, about 70 miles
(113km) north of Santa Fe, is in the centre of New Mexico's most
sparsely populated region, serving as a popular ski resort in
winter and artist's colony all year round. The main attraction at
Taos is Taos Pueblo, the largest of northern New Mexico's Indian
pueblos where life has changed little since ancient times. In the
town, which sits between the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains
and the deep Rio Grande Gorge, the old Spanish plaza is full of
shops and museums and an unusual community who live in half-buried
houses and reject materialism. The arts scene is particularly
lively, and there are some excellent restaurants. Some of the
diversions on offer include llama treks, hiking, biking and
white-water rafting.
Address:
Postcode:
Telephone:
(505) 758 3873
Email:
Website:
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Description:
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a popular attraction in New
Mexico containing the Carlsbad Cavern, (also known as the 'Big
Cave'), one of the largest underground chambers on earth. A UNESCO
World Heritage Site, the cave is one of 80 around the park, but is
incredibly popular for tours due to its stunning stalagmite and
stalactite formations. Visitors enter the cave by descending over
600 feet (183m) in an elevator, and explore the chambers via paved
trails that are mostly wheelchair accessible. There is also a
natural entrance by the visitor centre, involving a longer and
rougher walk.
Address:
Eddy County
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Website:
www.nps.gov/cave
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Description:
Located in the middle of an arid desert that sees only eight
inches (20cm) of rain per year, Las Cruces was an important
waypoint on El Camino Royal, a trade route between Santa Fe and
Mexico City; the historic town acted as the backdrop for wild west
dramas involving Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa, and has museums
dedicated to farm and ranching history, natural history, and
railroads in New Mexico; the New Mexico State University Museum has
several interesting exhibits on local history and archaeology.
There is also an older settlement located in nearby Mesilla with a
historic district of traditional adobe buildings.
Address:
Doña Ana County, southern New Mexico
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Website:
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