7 Days in New Mexico
 

My boyfriend and I are planning a 7 day trip to New Mexico in April. We selected New Mexico on the basis that neither of us have been there before or know much about the area. I have a few specific questions but would welcome any additional recommendations.

1.) We are flying into and out of Albuquerque. We are debating between using Santa Fe as a central location and doing day trips or moving around? Any opinions?
2.) We are interested in Whitewater rafting? Any recommendations on where to go. Also, will it be too early in the season?
3.) Carlsbad Caverns...We had initially thought of staying around Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos but I'm wondering if this is worth the drive for this trip?
4.) We are also interested in hiking and possibly mountain biking...any recommendations on locations would be great.

We went to NM for the same reason 3 years ago. It was a great trip.

Depending on your interests and when you will be there, the Gathering of Nations is held for a weekend in Albuquerque. It's a gathering of all the Native American tribes in the US at the Univ of New Mexico. Seeing the grand entrance eof all the tribes is an amazing cultural experience.

Hiking:
http://nis-www.lanl.gov/~dallas/sers/springs.html
It's a nice hour drive to Jemez Springs from Santa Fe. Go to the park and hike up the mountain to the McCaulley hot springs. There are 3 beautiful pools on the side of the mountain that waterfall into each other. It's pretty much a straight up 2 hour hike to get there, but well worth it.

Have a good time. Santa Fe is a wonderful, interesting city.

Sounds like a fun trip! Santa Fe is a good base for exploring the area.

Carlsbad Caverns is certainly worth seeing, but is too far for a day trip from Santa Fe at about 250 miles. If you really want to go, your best bet would probably be to go directly from Albuqerque, allowing for one night in the Carlsbad area. You could see the caverns and then head back towards Santa Fe, stopping if you want along the way and checking out the UFO Museum -- it's free.

Bandalier National Monument is nice for hiking, and you will see some cliff dwellings there. There's a good visitors center in Santa Fe where you can find tons of information about the area.

You're on the right track. I actually did a similar trip staying in ABQ. on the way in & out but I made my base Taos. Taos may be a little less expensive than Santa Fe & is very close. I would encourage you to head out to Taos Pueblo first thing in the morning, it is, indeed, a wonderful place.

If it were me, I'd spend the extra bucks to stay in Santa Fe at least three nights, hang around the downtown square and go to museums and Bandelier, then go to Taos and spend one night. One day in Taos (great museum there, can't remember name) and then head south towards Carlsbad, stopping at Riudosa, Lincoln, Cloudcroft, and White Sands (either on your way there or your way back, or to spend a night). Visit Carlsbad Caverns (half-day unless you go for a spelunking tour of one of the "primitive" nearby caves) and also visit Sitting Bull Falls (a picnic lunch would be ideal, and it's on your way out of town towards Roswell). I've not visited the UFO museum in Roswell but I can attest that their modern art/cultural museum is a very good one. And there are some excellent Mexican food restaurants in downtown. Also, Roswell has an aviation school so I'll bet you can likely find some excellent low-budget newer hotels built to accomodate air force troops.

Thanks for all the great info! I'm really getting excited as we plan this trip. Any additional areas that are a must see for hiking? It sounds like we will definitely do the hike to McCaulley hot springs one day but would be interested in a few more. Thanks again!!