Fodor's Expert Review Fort Union National Monument

The ruins of New Mexico's largest American frontier-era fort sit on an empty windswept plain about a half-hour drive north of Las Vegas. It still echoes with the isolation surely felt by the soldiers stationed here between 1851 and 1890, when the fort was established to protect travelers and settlers along the Santa Fe Trail. It eventually became a military supply depot for the Southwest, but was eventually abandoned. The visitor center provides historical background about the fort and you can walk among the extensive ruins on your own or explore different parts of the grounds on a ranger tour (they're given throughout the year, but more often in the busier spring and fall seasons).