New Mexico visit in April need help with itinerary.......please?
 

Hello everyone:
I'll be leaving N Florida by the end of march heading for the "Hills Co"
in Tx,may staying there 2 weeks max and then toward New Mexico.I have never been in
New Mexico and in order to take full advantage of the trip I'll travel by RV,I do realize is a huge state and I thinks staying there for a month.Where do you think I should head for
in order to see the most of the sights?From New Mexico on to Arizona but that's another
state.I do love to do some hiking and learn about the culture(as well as its food;).
I'd like to thanks to all in advance for your input,parigi.

Coming from TX you would want to check out Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, then up to Albuquerque, a stop there at Petroglyph NM, then up to Chaco Canyon, over to Bandelier NM, on to Santa Fe and Taos Pueblo, a loop down the Torquoise trail, over to Acoma Pueblo then Inscription rock/elMorro NM and I've missed about a million places that are great, New Mexico is awesome and others will have more ideas for you.

Weather-wise, it makes sense to start in southern New Mexico.

- Carlsbad has those famous, huge caverns.
- Alamogordo has the Space Museum (however, if you have been to Cape Canaveral, that might not be special for you).
- In any case, do not miss White Sands - a spectacular gypsum desert.

Then, drive northwards into the middle of the state. See
- Albuquerque, the state's largest city, with its Plaza and museums,
- Acoma pueblo, one of the most impressive pueblos.

Proceed to Northern New Mexico:

- Santa Fe deserves several days - one of America's most beautiful cities, with lots of atmosphere, culture and tons of museums,
- in the vicinity, there are lots of archeological sites (cliff dwellings), ghost towns (e.g. Madrid, with a melodrama show, accessible by a historic train from Santa Fe) and rock formations,
- Bandelier Natl. Mon. is the most spectacular archeological site in the area,
- Rancho de Chimayo is an impressive church and place of pilgrimage,
- Taos is an old western town with lots of history (Kit Carson),
- Taos Pueblo is (together with Acoma) the most picturesque of all Indian pueblos,
- Los Alamos has the museums about the atomic bomb and the "Black Hole", a most peculiar shop where you can buy nuclear waste.

From Northern New Mexico proceed to Chaco Canyon in the Northwestern corner of the State. Visit the park.

Then cross the border into Colorado and see Mesa Verde, probably the best archeological site. Drive into Utah to see Monument Valley and head on into Arizona.

I would strongly recommend a stop at Lake Powell. Board the boat to Rainbow Bridge.

See the Grand Canyon and drive southwards, with a stop in Sedona.

Spend as much time as possible on the higher elevations, before you drive to Yuma - it will be hot.

Excellent suggestions!

Thank you,DebitNM,Echnaton,emalloy:
Wow,exactly what I wanted,
I follow it to the letter and when possible I shall take day trip to cover as much territory as possible<I much appreciate
your time in replying,God bless you all!!!!!!parigi.

If you can help it, don't miss lunch at Orlando's in north Taos (if there is such a thing.) Seriously great territorial food with no attitude. Enjoy!

Just realized I may have made you think other Taos restaurants have attitude. I have not found that to be the case-- Orlando's is just excellent, that's all.

Since you seem to be more than a "tip of the iceberg" traveler, you might want to stop in Soccorro, New Mexico to see the VLA,(Very Large Array) and the Bosque del Apache bird reserve. If you do, there are also several good art galleries and a decent brew pub in town.

Outside Santa Fe, I like to recommend Tent Rocks for hiking and the Shidoni Foundry for bronze pours and their sculpture garden.

Have a great trip!