First visit in New Mexico

Old Mar 29th, 2015, 05:32 AM
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First visit in New Mexico

My husband and I want to travel to New Mexico soon. It is one of the handful of states we have not seen. We will have a car. We like almost everything including hiking (mostly 6 miles round trip or less), museums and local culture, beautiful scenery, and of course tasty local food. We enjoy western art as well. We would have a week to ten days to explore. We will either go in June or next spring break. I am a teacher and can't do fall trips. We don't mind changing locations at all. We look for bargains as we travel and generally choose accomodations that are safe and comfortable, but are not considered the destination. We "go" until dark anyway. What itinerary suggestions have you?
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Old Mar 29th, 2015, 06:37 AM
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Are you flying in? How many days and nights will you actually have to travel IN NM?

The time of year matters as to the route you take. If in spring, you'd want to head from south to north for best temperatures. Depending on when in the spring, you can still get snow covered hiking trails in the north. Spring tends to be out least "nice" season with winds that can sometimes be bothersome. And the temps vary a lot from day to day.

"Bargains" doesn't help much, you need to give $ amounts, since everyone's opinion of bargain varies.

As to the activities you seek, you can find that in just about every major area here.

Bases to consider - Santa Fe for the northern part of state, including Taos for day trip.

Mid- state - Albuquerque, which can include day trips to Santa Fe.

southern state - Las Cruces, Ruidoso.

It's a big state, it takes quite a while to cover the stretch from south to north. Unfortunately, we don't have a natural "loop" to travel so if you fly into Albuquerque {ABQ} you have to back track, no matter which direction you go. If you are willing to travel off interstate, you can do a loop, but it will take time and accommodations may be limited.

Take a look here to familiarize yourself with our different areas:

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...sa/new-mexico/
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Old Mar 29th, 2015, 09:50 AM
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I'd go in June and concentrate on the area north of Albuquerque. I commuted for a time between Denver and SE Arizona and always enjoyed my overnight stops in northern NM as well as longer visits on other occasions.

Since it's your first trip, there will be more than enough to keep you busy in the vicinity of Santa Fe, including Pecos National Historic Monument, Taos and surrounding countryside, maybe a side trip to Abiquiu and the smaller towns off the interstate along the way.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 02:32 AM
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I explored this trip last fall but couldn't go because of a family circumstance.

I lived in New Mexico for a while as a child, and I have vivid memories from then and from visits in recent years.

What I discovered then that may help you:

At that time, you could fly into El Paso and rent a car, returning it without penalty in Albuquerque and flying out of there. Worth checking out.

My own interests would have taken me to Alamagordo, Ruidoso, Roswell, Lincoln, then across the Llano Estacado to Las Vegas, then north on NM 434 and looping around Wheeler Peak before turning south to Taos.

From Taos, I would have taken the High Road to Santa Fe for a couple of days before heading out to Bandelier, Los Alamos, and Jemez, making another loop ending in Albuquerque. I didn't plan to go west to Acoma because I have been there, but you could, and it is Worth It.

This road goes through -- deliberately -- a lot of empty country, and as far as possible, it avoids interstate highways. I did enough research to believe that I would find simple, clean rooms in the places I planned to stop unless there were some kind of festival going on, not an issue for you in June, I would think. Similarly, I felt that I could eat a lot of New Mexican food. This was a feature for me, maybe not for you. It isn't the same as Tex-Mex or Cali-Mex.

New Mexico has fabulous scenery and one of the most interesting histories and cultures in the United States. If I had to move away from the ocean, I would move there in a minute.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 04:15 AM
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Ackislander's route looks pretty good to me. I would add Carlsbad Caverns to the itinerary if that is of interest.

In the Ruidoso area, Lincoln is one of my favorite places, with its Wild West Billy the Kid history. www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-lincoln.html

In nearby Capitan, the Smokey Bear Museum is worth a short stop. The Smokey Bear Restaurant (not connected) is really good and reasonably priced. www.smokeybearrestaurant.com

There are some interesting little shops in Capitan, too.

A lot of people dismiss the UFO Museum in Roswell, but it is free and a good overview of that longtime mysterious story.

For reasonable non-chain lodging in Santa Fe, check out Sage Inn -- santafesageinn.com.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 01:42 PM
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Ackislander's route looks good; you'll want a couple of weeks to do all that, especially if you want to include Carlsbad Caverns and Acoma Pueblo.

Lee Ann
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 01:46 PM
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I forgot to link this before I submitted my last post - here's a report from a northern NM trip we did in 2011.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ath-mostly.cfm

Lee Ann
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 04:39 AM
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Ellen, fantastic report!

I still want to make a big NM circle, though I still can't plan owing to external circumstances, but I have downloaded your report for when I do!

The area around Tierra Amarilla is one of the loneliest places I have ever been. On our first trip, there was no cell phone service for a long time. Maybe different today.

How can you not admire a kid who gets green chile on the side with his burger,
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 05:39 AM
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For a nice hike, check out Kasha-katuwe ( or search for Tent Rocks).
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 05:48 PM
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>>How can you not admire a kid who gets green chile on the side with his burger
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