Carlsbad Cavern area - New Mexico ... Lodging
 

I've reviewed what I could find here ( a little out of date) and the lodging options appear to be pretty limited without driving 2 to 4 hours

Driving in from Texas ( currently planning on ABILENE for prior stop) after about 3 days on the road, and had hoped to stay one place for 2 or 3 nights and see Carlsbad as well as something else in the area. For some reason, I thought Artesia would work, but the maps are saying a four hour one way drive.

For us, it looks like Carlsbad would be about a half day visit.... And I think we can skip the White Sands.

We are planning to also visit the Santa Fe / ALBUQUERQUE area ... And realize there is not a great circular route to fit everything in -- Just trying to decide if enough we would be interested in visiting to make the Southeast part of the state.

Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks in advance

Check this site

http://www.discoverourtown.com/NM/Ca...ging-1796.html

Here's a thought.

Stop for the night a little further west in Texas, maybe Midland. Leave early the next morning for Carlsbad and tour the caverns, then drive on to Ruidoso or Cloudcroft and spend the night. This is much prettier and interesting area than Carlsbad. You could spend the next day exploring Lincoln and Capitan, and even add in White Sands if you wanted.

From there you could head on to Santa Fe.

Clarification--two nights in Ruidoso/Cloudcroft area.

jayne1973, that is one option we're kicking around....just would make the previous 3 days drives longer, so I keep looking for that PERFECT route LOL

Thanks emalloy also, i'll check that out.

I'm a little confused....are you looking for a place to stay in Carlsbad or are you looking for suggestions on things to do along the route that would make it worth your time to go to Carlsbad? As in, you would be willing to stop in at Carlsbad and then keep going somewhere else?

I am not sure there is enough in the immediate Carlsbad area to warrant a 2-3 night stay, and it is not a real scenic area as jayne1973 pointed out.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is about 40 minutes past Carlsbad Caverns. It is primarily a hiker's park though, there isn't much in the way of scenic drives or short trails.

Carlsbad Caverns would be best in the afternoon and stay for the evening bat program.

You could stay in Carlsbad overnight, then go to Roswell the next day. Or head the other direction to Guadalupe Mountains and continue on to El Paso (there are a couple good state parks nearby).

Getting across Texas is quite an ordeal, isn't it?

If Abilene is your overnight stop, maybe you could go see the evening bat flight (free) the day you arrive at Carlsbad, and then do the caverns early in the morning and head out of town. I just don't think two nights in Carlsbad would be that great.

Regarding lodging in Carlsbad, the Stephens (a Best Western) used to be "the" place and might be cool for a retro experience if it has been maintained.

FYI, if you take U.S. 285 up to Santa Fe, be aware that is what some call it "The Highway to Hell"-- long and very boring. But you do have the UFO Museum to look forward to in Roswell! haha

I would love to hear what routes you come up with. New Mexico is one of my favorite places.

If anything, I'd be looking at TripAdvisor and Booking.com for the lodging...at least you'd have pictures and reviews.

I booked the Trinity in CARLSBAD for our overnight related to the Caverns. I'll keep everyone posted

PS. Just not into bats LOL

You can easily spend a whole day at Carlsbad Caverns, especially if you add one of the tours. I would spend a night in Carlsbad and tour the park the next day. But if you want to add any of the special tours, you might want to spend that night in Carlsbad as well, since it's a three-hour drive to Ruidoso.

Lee Ann

You mentioned in another thread that you want to spend five to seven days in New Mexico. What are you interested in seeing, besides Carlsbad?

Lee Ann

Here's a link to my trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...new-mexico.cfm

You will see that we stayed at Trinity Hotel in Carlsbad - great choice. Although not much to do in Carlsbad itself, it was worth the 2-night stay in order to tour the caverns.

Lottie

Travelottie, we worked out late pm arrival at Trinity Hotel, tour caverns next day without rush, and then leave Trinity after one more night there. We really hate one night stays!

From there, we are still going back and forth between Direct to Santa Fe and 2 nights in RUDIOSO or Cloudcroft area. It may ultimately boil down to date change at Mesa Verde, to have more time for everything

Elendilpickle, we want lots of time ( probably 4-5 days based in Santa Fe to do daily trips and drives in the area.

Because I can't t seem to find any other way to do it we will end up backtracking a bit to include the Petrified Forest in AZ ( on my husbands list) as well as to hit Canyon de Chelly
-- as we work our way to Mesa Verde. couple days there, and then off to explore, Colorada - that route I will work on after New Mexico.

If you do go to the Ruidoso area, don't miss Lincoln and its historic courthouse, where Billy the Kid escaped from jail after shooting a lawman. Great Old West vibes.

As jayne1973 said, Lincoln is worth a stop for the history. You could spend the night in Ruidoso, and then drive to Santa Fe the next day.

Lee Ann