akankshak9962

Hi, We (myself, husband and 4 year old) will be flying into New Mexico from New York in late October for a week. We are more into nature and not into arts/ museum. Here is the rough itinerary we have we would appreciate any feedback, places to add or remove from this itinerary.

Day 1: NYC to Albuquerque (ALB); pick the car; check into the hotel; buy groceries, etc. Visit PetroGlyph national monument. Stay in ALB.

Day 2: Start early - leave by 7:30am and head to Carlsbad; do the hikes and scenic viewpoints - Guadalupe Peak Viewpoint and El Capitan Viewpoint near Pine Springs visitor center. Stay in Carlsbad.

Day 3: Start with Carlsbad Cavern in the morning; then go to Dog Canyon and Five Points Vista and come back to Carlsbad for Bat flight Program. Stay in Carlsbad.

Day 4: Head to White Sands National Park and stay the night in Alamorado. Stay longer in park on full moon night to view Milky way galaxy.

Day 5: More time in White Sands if needed and then head to Santa Fe; visit Bandelier National Monument. Stay at Santa Fe.

Day 6: High road to Taos, and visit Taos Pueblo, Rio Grande Gorge bridge. Stay at Santa Fe

Day 7: Drive to ALB. Visit El Malpais national monument. Stay in ALB.

Day 8: Day trip to Bisti Badlands. Stay in ALB.
Day 9:Take flight to to NYC

tomfuller

Welcome to Fodor's! It looks like you did a good bit of research already. I think that you will find that the airport at Albuquerque is ABQ. ALB is Albany NY. The view of the Milky Way is best before the moon rises. At the east end of Albuquerque you might want to take the gondola ride up to the top of Sandia Peak. There is a zoo and an arboretum in the west end of Albuquerque. There is a park in Capitan where Smokey Bear is buried.

Gretchen

OH NO!! He can't be dead!! He may have just left the building. LOL

PrairieHikerI

I second the Sandia Tramway to the top of Sandia Mt. It's amazing to see the vegetation and climate change as you ascend. There is a lush coniferous forest on top and there are great views. When visiting White Sands stay on the pavement as you can get stuck on sandy back roads (like we did).

oldemalloy

I would encourage your son to climb into the dwellings at Bandelier. If you did the petroglyphs in Albuquerque, encourage him to look for some at Bandolier too. There also is a pictograph that they were trying to protect under a piece of clear plastic the last time we were there too.

Nelson

Yes, you guys have done some good homework. The yellow flag I see is your days 6, 7, 8. That is a heck of a lot of driving, especially returning to Albuquerque from El Malpais, then going all the way back to the Bisti Badlands. Consider doing it in a loop, where you spend a night in Taos, and then maybe Grants or Gallup before Alb. I don't like one night stays but in this case better than all that driving.

Something like this, perhaps:
https://goo.gl/maps/zWAatePJ8HiXkznG6

El Morro National Monument out by El Malpais is worth a detour. I added that to the map.

More things to see near Alamogordo are Three Rivers Petroglyph Site and Valley of Fires Recreation Area.
Have a good trip. Hopefully Smokey is not really dead.

(Edit: Or at least spend a single one-nighter in Grants/Gallup after Bisti. Then you'd still have your last two nights in Alb, where you could check out the zoo or Botanical Garden.)

Michael

Day 6: High road to Taos, and visit Taos Pueblo, Rio Grande Gorge bridge. Stay at Santa Fe

Presumably you are taking the high road to do some sightseeing along the way, such as stopping to see, if only from the outside, some of the churches; they are generally closed except during services.


That means arriving in Taos by the afternoon. Our experience in late October 2014 is that there was a long wait in getting the shuttle to see the Taos Pueblo. With its restricted time and number of visitors, you might not be able to see it (we didn't) unless you stay in Taos and go to the pueblo early in the morning.