morses

We have four days free to sightsee and hike in New Mexico next month (Nov) before going to Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Since we've been to Santa Fe and Taos before, we thought we might make a loop south & west from Albuquerque to Carrizozo (where we might visit Valley of the Fires Recreation area or Three Rivers Petroglyph site) and Alamogordo (to see White Sands National Monument) and Las Cruces before heading back north. Is this a good idea? Or will we be disappointed by the scenery and accommodations? (We're not overly fussy.... but clean is good.) There doesn't appear to be much in the way of hotels in Carrizozo...... Pickings also appear slim in Alamogordo. Your thoughts/suggestions?

HappyTrvlr

For a change of scenery head up into the mountains to Cloudcroft, forty miles from White Sands.

Waldo

I recently returned from a visit to my daughter, who lives in Las Cruces. The town is very pretty and has numerous good eating places, mostly in Mesilla. There is a restaurant on Mesilla Avenue or Boulevard ( can't remember which), that is a rather small house, with tables both inside and outdoors. I have NEVER tasted Mexican food as good as this, and the prices are extremely reasonable. I'm sorry I can't give you any more information than this, but the area is new to me. However, my son in law took me to the town of Lincoln, way up in the mountains, about 70 miles from Las Cruces, near Ruidoso (another delightful town). Lincoln is where Billy The Kid hung out. There is the Lincoln Museum there. I spent most part of a delightful day there. I didn't think I would be so interested, but it really blew my mind. They keep the town, which is the whole museum, exactly as it was during the time of Billy the Kid. I think that it is a day really worth spending there.

ElendilPickle

The scenery is definitely different from northern New Mexico - too deserty for my tastes, but you may like it.

Alamogordo has a pretty good range of chain motels; something there should work for you.

I'll second Waldo's recommendation of Lincoln. You could spend part of a day there, then drive over to Cloudcroft and back down to Alamogordo.

Lee Ann

emalloy

White Sands in interesting, but won't take more than a half day to visit unless you do a lot of hiking, we did it the same day we went to Three Rivers Petroglyph site (actually had to do 3 rivers first because they were doing restricted flights over WS in the AM). Then we went down to Carlsbad Caverns which were very interesting.

On the way south of ABQ is Salinas Pueblo, a ruin that is worth a stop. West of ABQ is Acoma Pueblo, similar to Taos, nice visitor's center, guided tours. Also west is elMorro NM/Inscription rock, neat carvings on the rock from early Native Americans to Spanish, to Civil War soldiers, etc. and a nice hike up to a ruin on the top of the hill.

Hope it is a great trip.

eveningcrane

Hi

Have you been to the Festival of Cranes before? We (DH and myself) will be there on Wednesday and Thursday. This is our fourth year and we have always enjoyed ourselves.

I really recommend stopping at White Sands National Monument. To me it has an other worldly feeling. The dunes are amazing and unlike seashore dunes, you can walk all over these dunes. You mentioned hiking in your original post, so you might want to consider hiking the Alkali Flat trail across the dunes (4.6 miles round-trip - its a loop trail)

Also one of our favorite hikes in the area is a little south of Alamogordo, Dog Canyon in Oliver Lee State Park.

We haven't been to Three Rivers Petroglyphs yet but just yesterday DH and I were discussing going there one day next week. If we do, I'll post my thoughts.

Driving Hwy 70 from Alamogordo to Las Cruces, be on the lookout for pronghorns and oryx (yes, African gazelles) in the Tularosa basin (basically the White Sands Missle Range).

Another thought is that Carlsbad Caverns is less than 3 and 1/2 hours from Carrizozo.

If you head up towards Lincoln, you could stay in Ruidoso. We have stayed at the Best Western Ruidoso Inn and it was fine. The is also a Holiday Inn Express and a number of other hotels, it's a ski town. We usually eat at Casa Blanca when we are in Ruidoso.

As mentioned above, there is a decent selection of chain hotels in Alamogordo, including my personel favorite, Hampton Inn.

If you stay in Las Cruces, I would recommend staying near Mesilla. Mesilla has a number of good restaurants and has a historic old plaza with a number of shops and the Basilica of San Albino on one side.

The restaurant that Waldo described sounds like El Comedor on Avenida de Mesilla. Another good Mexican restaurant is Andele's, also on Avenida de Mesilla (very near El Comedor).

These are just some slightly random thoughts. We have lived in Las Cruces for almost four years and really like it.

If anything I have mentioned piques your interest, just let me know and I can give you more details

Pamela

Waldo

Eveningcrane- You got it! The restaurant was El Comedor!!

ElendilPickle

>>On the way south of ABQ is Salinas Pueblo, a ruin that is worth a stop.

Clousie

Evening Crane: I'd love to hear more about the crane festival since you've been there 4 times. Unfortunately, we were a bit early to see the cranes on our recent trip to NM in September. Please fill in the details for me and tell me if it's something we should consider for another year. We always enjoyed seeing the cranes walk across my parents place in Florida. They are fascinating birds.

morses

Thank you, all, for these very helpful suggestions. I will check these out.... and yes, LaMesilla sounds like a good place to stay in/near Las Cruces....