44 Best Sights in Northwestern New Mexico, New Mexico

Atop a 367-foot mesa that rises abruptly from the valley floor, Acoma Pueblo's terraced, multistory, multiunit Sky City is like no other pueblo structure. It's one of the oldest continually inhabited spots in North America, with portions believed to be more than 1,500 years old. Captain Hernando de Alvarado, a member of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's expedition of 1540, was the first European to see Acoma. He reported that he had "found a rock with a village on top, the strongest position ever seen in the world." The Spanish eventually conquered the Acoma people and brutally compelled them to build San Estéban del Rey, the immense adobe church that stands to this day. Native American laborers cut the massive vigas for the church's ceiling 30 mi away on Mt. Taylor and physically carried them back to the mesa.

About a dozen families live at the mesa-top pueblo full time, with most other Acomas living on Native American land nearby and returning only in summer and for celebrations, such as the feast day of St. Stephen (September 2), and Christmas mass (both are open to the public). Acoma's artisans are known for their thin-walled pottery, hand-painted with intricate black-and-white or polychrome geometrical patterns.

Once you park at the mesa base, plan to spend time in the superb Haak'u Museum at the Sky City Cultural Center. Changing exhibits explore traditional and contemporary arts, and are perfectly set in this modernist interpretation of traditional pueblo forms, with fine sandstone detailing and glass panels prepared to evoke historic mica windows. Visitation on the mesa top is by an hour-long guided tour; you're whisked by van up a steep road from behind the center and then led about the mesa community on foot (allow extra time if you choose to walk back down instead, via the ancient staircase carved into the side of the mesa). An Acoma guide will point out kivas, hornos, and unforgettable views toward their sacred sites of Enchanted Mesa and Mt. Taylor, and describe pueblo history in-depth, as well as direct you to artisan displays throughout the village. (Note: the terrain can be uneven; heeled shoes or flip-flops are not advised.) There's no electricity or running water in the village, but you can see cars parked outside many homes—one wonders what it must have been like to visit Acoma before the road was constructed in 1969. Open hours vary slightly, depending on the weather. Videotaping, sketching, and painting are prohibited, and a permit is required for still photography. Note that the pueblo prohibits photography of the church interior and exterior as well as the adjoining cemetery. As at all indigenous locales, ask permission before photographing residents or their artwork. Regroup back at Haak'u and browse the gallery gift shop and bookstore or enjoy blue-corn pancakes or a grilled chicken wrap with green-chile guacamole at the cozy Y'aak'a (Corn) Café. There is shuttle service available if you are staying at the Sky City Hotel/Casino (888/759–2489). Open hours are subject to tribal activities or weather conditions; it is best to check their online calendar or call ahead.

The roads accessing Chaco Canyon, home to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, do a fine job of deterring exploration: they are mostly unpaved and can be very muddy and/or icy during inclement weather (particularly NM 57 from the south). The silver lining is that the roads leading in—and the lack of gas stations, food concessions, or hotels once you get off the highway—keep this archaeological treasure free from the overcrowding that can mar other national park visits: only about 85,000 people visit annually, compared with at least 10 times that number to Canyon de Chelly, which is 80 mi away as the crow flies.

Once past the rough roads you'll see one of the most amazingly well-preserved and fascinating ruin sites on the continent. The excavations here have uncovered what was once the administrative and economic core of a vast community—the locus of a system of over 400 mi of ancient roads that have been identified to date. While there is evidence that people lived in the canyon at least since 400 AD, the majority of these roads, and the buildings and dwellings that make up the canyon site, were constructed from 850 to 1250 AD. Several of the ancient structures—such as an immense Great Kiva, Casa Rinconada, or Pueblo Bonito—are simply astounding, if only for the extreme subtlety and detail of their precisely cut and chinked sandstone masonry. But there's still a shroud of mystery surrounding them. Did 5,000 people really once live here, as some archaeologists believe? Or was Chaco maintained solely as a ceremonial and trade center? The more that's learned about the prehistoric roadways and the outlying sites that they connect, or wondrous creations such as the Sun Dagger —an arrangement of stone slabs positioned to allow a spear of sunlight to pass through and bisect a pair of spiral petroglyphs precisely at each summer solstice—the more questions arise about the sophistication of the people that created them.

At the visitor center you can meander through a small museum on Chaco culture, peruse the bookstore, buy bottled water (but no food), and inquire about hiking permits. From here you can drive (or bike) along the 9-mi paved inner loop road to the various trailheads for the ruins; at each you can find a small box containing a detailed self-guided tour brochure (a 50¢ donation per map is requested). Many of the 13 ruins at Chaco require a significant hike, but a few of the most impressive are just a couple of hundred yards off the road. The stargazing here is spectacular: there is a small observatory and numerous telescopes, which are brought out for star parties from April through October; ask about the schedule at the front desk. Pueblo Bonito is the largest and most dramatic of the Chaco Canyon ruins, a massive semicircular "great house" that once stood four stories in places and held some 600 rooms (and 40 kivas). The park trail runs alongside its fine outer mortar-and-sandstone walls, up a hill that allows a great view over the entire canyon, and then right through the ruin and several rooms. It's the most substantial of the structures—the ritualistic and cultural center of a Chacoan culture that may once have comprised some 150 settlements.

When you see the imposing 200-foot-high sandstone bluff that served as a rest stop for Indians, explorers, soldiers, and pioneers, you can understand how El Morro ("the Headland") got its name. The bluff is the famous Inscription Rock, where wayfarers stopped to partake of a waterhole at its base and left behind messages, signatures, and petroglyphs carved into the soft sandstone. The paved Inscription Trail makes a quick ½-mi round-trip from the visitor center and passes that historic water source and numerous inscriptions. Although El Morro is justly renowned for Inscription Rock, try to allow an extra 90 minutes or so to venture along the spectacular, moderately strenuous 2-mi (round-trip) Headland Trail, which meanders past the excavated edge of an extensive field of late-13th-century pueblo ruins, cuts along the precarious rim of a deep box canyon, and affords panoramic views across the Zuni Mountains and El Malpais. The monument's compact museum chronicles 700 years of human history in this region.

A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, which celebrates Zuni history and culture through a collection of Hawikku artifacts on loan from the Smithsonian, is housed in the historic Kelsey trading post. The museum's orientation is more toward engaging the community rather than outsiders, but there is much to see here. Historic Zuni pottery and contemporary work is also displayed, as well as documentation from the early-19th-century excavation at Hawikku and a beautiful mural depicting the A:shiwi peoples' emergence story, which starts at the Grand Canyon.

The tiny but free Arts & Crafts Museum remains the best place to see fine historic and contemporary Jicarilla baskets, beadwork, and pottery. It's also the place to inquire about tours, events, and any tourism restrictions in place because of ceremonial activities.

The village part of the Aztec Museum & Pioneer Village contains more than a dozen late-19th-century buildings—a blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse, a wooden oil derrick, and a log cabin, among others—that convey a sense of life as it used to be lived in these parts.

Dating from the early 1100s, North America's largest reconstructed Great Kiva (a partially submerged, circular earthen structure used for ceremonial and community-wide activities) and a pueblo dwelling that once contained more than 500 rooms, Aztec Ruins National Monument and Museum, makes for a rewarding stop. The ruins have been designated a World Heritage Site because of their significance in what is known as the Chaco Phenomenon, the extensive multitribal social and economic system that reached far beyond Chaco Canyon. This pueblo was abandoned by the mid-1200s. Early homesteaders thought they'd come across an ancient Aztec ruin, hence the odd name. You only need an hour or so to tour the ruin, which is less spectacular but considerably more accessible than those at Chaco.

Dinosaurs roamed the Bisti Badlands Wilderness areas when they were part of a shallow sea some 70 million years ago. Hoodoos (mushroom-shaped rock formations in subtle shades of brown, gray, and white) lend the 45,000 acres an eerie, lunar appearance. De-Na-Zin (pronounced duh-nah-zen and named for a petroglyph found nearby) is the much larger and less visited of the two sections, and here you can find hillier and more challenging terrain, plus numerous fossils and petrified logs. At Bisti (pronounced biss-tye), you can encounter deeply eroded hoodoos whose striations represent layers of sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. In many spots you'll climb over mounds of crumbly clay and silt that look a bit like the topping of a coffee cake (but gray). Both sections are ideal for photography, and backcountry camping is permitted—and not to be missed during a full moon, if your timing is good. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which administers the land, stipulates that you remove nothing from either area, preserving its magical appearance for those who follow. The most fascinating terrain is 2 to 3 mi from the parking areas, and there are no trails (or water facilities), so bring a compass and be alert about your surroundings and where you are in relation to the sun—it's relatively easy to get lost in this vast, incredible place. And how 'bout bringing some more water?

The Bolack Electromechanical Museum is the legacy of former state governor Tom Bolack, who collected wildlife of the taxidermic kind. His son Tommy carries on the collecting tradition, but his museum on the family's B-Square Ranch is a wonder of large-scale, unexpected, electrical items, from aged radio-station transmitters and all the car speakers from the old Rincon Drive-In in Aztec, to a three-stage compressor from a Nevada uranium testing site, a 16-foot-diameter drill bit, and an entire electrical substation. Set back into the bluffs on the south side of town, the spread itself is a sight even if all the objects here don't appeal. Keep an eye out for the peacocks on the road in. Note that you must stop and register at the first buildings you see.

Ninety-eight miles northwest of Gallup and situated in the heart of the Navajo Nation, Canyon de Chelly—pronounced de-shay—is well worth the drive and a day of exploring. Amid its fascinating Anasazi ruins tucked high into alcoves in the red canyon walls—and spectacular formations like Spider Rock—Diné (Navajo) residents farm and raise sheep on the canyon floor. The visitor center and museum are open all year, and from there, or at nearby Thunderbird Lodge (928/674–5841 or 800 679–2473 www.tbirdlodge.com) you can book tours on the canyon bottom—by vehicle or, even more memorably, by horseback—with Navajo guides, or drive the canyon rim and take the self-guided 6-mi hike on White House Trail. A guide will cost about $40 per hour, per vehicle ($15 per hour on horseback), and is well worth hiring if your budget allows. Campgrounds and a couple of chain lodgings are in Chinle; there is also a campground at the monument visitor center.

Heading east on Interstate 40? Usually held on the third Friday of every month, the Crownpoint Rug Auction is the foremost place to buy handwoven Navajo rugs—you're bidding with a mix of collectors and dealers, so prices on the some 300 to 400 rugs are sometimes well below what you'd pay at a store. Viewing begins at 4, with the actual auction running from 7 usually until midnight or later. Keep in mind there are no overnight facilities in Crownpoint, though there is a food and drink concession at the auction. Call ahead to confirm auction dates. Cash, traveler's checks, personal checks only; no credit cards. If Chaco Canyon is your next stop (via the south entrance, which is also off NM 371), it is best not drive there after dark. There are never assurances of space at the campground, and the road can be very bad. Backtrack 26 mi to Interstate 40 and stay overnight in Grants (30 mi east). Note: NM 371 is also a direct route to the Bisti Badlands and to Farmington (80 mi north of Crownpoint).

Whether you're coming or going from Chaco's north entrance, or simply heading south on U.S. 550, Cuba is a good place to stop for gas and, depending on your inclination and the season, hot coffee or a cold soda. Remnants of when this route was the notoriously unsafe—and much narrower—NM 44 are gas stations, a convenience store, and El Bruno's, a better-than decent Mexican restaurant that's right on the highway at the far north end of town, plus a handful of inexpensive motels that could serve for a pre- or post-Chaco overnighter; your best bet in this regard is the Cuban Lodge. Continue south on U.S. 550 in daylight if at all possible (late afternoon is perfect): the views only get more spectacular as you go. Watch for Cabezon Peak on your right. But if you've got some time to spare, detour in Cuba to visit Pueblo Pintado, about 60 mi west, on Navajo Route 9 via NM 197 from Cuba's south end. Most of it is a very rugged ride, and the Pintado town site is little more than a few houses and a convenience store, but the ruins there—from a Chaco Culture great house—are worth a look and easy to find (for the intrepid, there is an even more rugged back route to Chaco Canyon itself from here).

Your best bet in this regard is the Cuban Lodge.

If the kids need some indoor fun, try stopping by the E3 Children's Museum & Science Center. The interactive exhibits here include a shadow room, a magnet table, giant floor puzzles, and a role-play area. It's a low-key spot for the younger set to rest and regroup.

El Bruno's, a better-than decent Mexican restaurant that's right on the highway at the far north end of town.

Traveling west on Interstate 40, along the south side of the freeway in the last 10 miles or so before you hit Grants, you'll catch your first glimpse of the stark, volcanic-rock-strewn El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area. Take Exit 89, on the east edge of the flow, and travel south on NM 117 about 18 miles to La Ventana, New Mexico's largest natural arch. Before you get to that sandstone wonder, you might pull off at the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) El Malpais Ranger Station (it's about 9 miles from the exit) for maps and information about the conservation area's miles of hiking trails; the nearby Sandstone Bluffs overlook offers a grand view across El Malpais ("the Badlands"). Alternatively, proceed into Grants, stopping at the comprehensive Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center (Exit 85 505/876–2783) for maps and info, then continue west on Interstate 40 to Exit 81, then southwest on NM 53 to the monument area, which is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and has an information center about 23 miles to the south. El Malpais is not much of an attraction for the just-passing-through visitor, but it's well worth spending a full day or two exploring the park in depth. Popular for hiking as well as caving in the miles of lava tubes—but it's best to venture forth with extremely sturdy soles and lots of water—its some 40 volcanoes dot 114,000 acres. (A quick snapshot of the volcanic landscape may be gained from the Ice Cave and Bandera Crater.) BLM's Joe Skeen Campground has 10 basic sites and a vault toilet; backcountry camping permits are available at the NPS visitor center, though camping is very primitive—no facilities exist.

The 1928 El Morro Theatre is a shining example of a unique regional building style, Pueblo Deco. El Morro tends to be open sporadically for events and the occasional film fest; on Saturdays it offers a kids matinee—call to find out what's on the schedule. Walk one block south of Route 66 to have a look (while the interior has been refurbished, only the exterior reflects its period glory).

You can get an inkling of what the Four Corners area was like during the trading-post days at the Farmington Museum, in a modern sandstone building whose stonework is fashioned to echo that found at Aztec and Chaco ruins, and that also houses the Farmington visitor center. Landscaped grounds behind the building extend down to the Animas River—an ideal spot for a picnic. The museum presents art, science, Native American, and regional history exhibits throughout the year (the "Geovator," goofy as it is, simulates a trip deep into the subsurface stratigraphy of limestone, sandstone, and shale that yields oil and natural gas wealth for the region). Occasionally a traveling exhibit will require an entrance fee; otherwise, admission is free. There's a summertime evening music series on the terrace; call for dates and performers.

About 30 mi west of Shiprock you can reach the only place in the United States where you can stand in four states at the same time—at the intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Wide-open skies—broken occasionally by a distant mesa—surround the site, which was refurbished in 2010 on this very spot, refuting a flock of reports that the original 1912 marker for it might have been a few miles off. Native American artisans sell their wares here nearly every day of the year. Facilities include picnic tables and restrooms, but you must bring your own drinking water.

The Gallup Cultural Center, a project of the Southwest Indian Foundation, is inside the restored 1918 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway station. (A quintessential Fred Harvey House—architect Mary Colter's fabulous El Navajo hotel—was added on to the depot in 1923, but has long since been demolished.) Trains still run in and out of the station (this is where riders pick up Amtrak's historic Southwest Chief on its daily run). The cultural center includes a café (where you can lunch or sip coffee out of replicas of the china used on AT&SF trains), a gift shop that sells the work of Native American artisans (many local), and exhibits that reflect the art and history of area native peoples, westward expansion, and the building of the railroads. Stop to appreciate the statue of revered Navajo chief Manuelito, which stands witness as you enter.

Sixty-three miles west of Gallup and en route to Canyon de Chelly, Hubbell Trading Post, in operation since 1878, is still an active purveyor of food staples, clothes, and Navajo rugs, much as it was when John Lorenzo Hubbell was running it (the National Park Service runs it now). With its creaking wood floors, dim lighting, and goods hanging from the rafters, Hubbell provides a palpable sense of what a post was like back in the day; the tours of the Hubbell homestead, complete with original decor intact, offer a glimpse into period home life of a trader of means (who had access to the best Native American handwork).

Despite its unabashed commercialism (announced by its many somewhat-over-the-top, retro-style billboard advertisements), this roadside curiosity, set squarely on the Continental Divide, easily merits an hour of your time—the short trail from the 1930s trading post (now the gift shop) just off NM 53 affords unusual vistas of blackened lava fields and gnarled juniper and ponderosa stands. It's about a 20-minute moderately strenuous jaunt up to the 1,200-foot-diameter crater of Bandera Volcano, which last unleashed a torrent of lava 10,000 years ago. An even shorter walk leads to an old wooden staircase that descends 100 feet into the bowels of a collapsed lava tube, where the Ice Cave never rises above 31°F year-round and has a perpetual floor of blue-green ice. The ice remains year after year because of the combination of the air flow patterns in the lava tube and the insulating properties of the lava itself.

Contact the Jicarilla Apache Department of Game & Fish for information.

The Spanish named the Jicarilla band of Apaches (pronounced hick-uh-ree-ya, meaning "little basket") for their beautiful basketry. For centuries before the arrival of the Spanish, these Native Americans, who as Athabaskan speakers are related to the Navajo and other Apache bands, were a nomadic people who roamed across northeastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Their band of 10,000 was reduced to 330 by 1897. The federal government relocated them to this isolated area of almost a million acres a century ago. Since then, the Jicarilla Apaches have made something of a comeback with the sale of timber, oil, and gas development, casino gambling, and savvy investing.

Dulce (pronounced dull-say, meaning "sweet" in Spanish) on U.S. 64 is the Jicarilla capital. This country is known for fishing, particularly at Stone Lake, and for hunting. You may also hike and camp. As with many pueblos in New Mexico, the casinos have become big draws as well. Some Jicarilla celebrations are open to the public. The Little Beaver Roundup, the third weekend in July, entails a rodeo, powwow, and carnival and draws participants from Native American tribes and pueblos throughout the United States.

Laguna Pueblo actually comprises six villages, all traditionally Keres-speaking: Mesita, Seama, Encinal, Paraje, Laguna, and Paguate. (In 1953 one of the world's largest open-pit uranium mines, the Jackpile, began operation in Paguate, bringing with it income and health issues. The mine was shut down in 1982.) But visitors are especially drawn to Old Laguna, capped by the eye-catching white facade of San José de Laguna Church, which is visible from Interstate 40. The church, built in 1699, is a National Historic Landmark; its lovely hand-painted and embellished interior may be accessed by special permission. Occasionally—in front of the church or at the scenic overview just west of the Laguna exit—handcrafted silver jewelry and finely painted pottery embellished with Laguna polychrome motifs are available for purchase. The pueblo's villages enjoy many feast days, including St. Ann (July 26, Seama), Virgin Mary (September 8, Encinal), and St. Margaret Mary (October 17, Paraje). Most of the pueblo's residents (and the welcome public) gather at Old Laguna on September 19 to grandly honor St. Joseph with traditional dances; food and fine crafts abound. Feast day dances usually begin at 10 and continue through the afternoon. Except on feast days, visitors may not wander any of the villages unless with a tour. And with the exception of the view from outside the church at Old Laguna, photography is prohibited at all times.

In summer, Indian dances take place nightly in the artful contemporary surround of the open plaza at the McKinley County Courthouse and Courthouse Square. Come in (after a security check) and tour the marvelous array of paintings and murals (by Lloyd Moylan, Gene Kloss, and other period luminaries) inside the lovely multistory 1938 Pueblo Revival court building—they're all products of the WPA federal arts project, even the courthouse itself.

In the Four Corners area Mesa Verde National Park tops the list of must-sees. Spectacular doesn't even begin to describe its 13th-century cliff dwellings; Balcony House, Cliff Palace, and Spruce House are the biggies. Visitors to these Ancestral Puebloan ruins are also in for a rare scenic treat—and the hairpin turns that go with it. Weather can shut this place down. On-site accommodations (800/449–2288 www.visitmesaverde.com)include Far View Lodge (late April to late October), near the visitor center, and Morefield Campground (early May to early October), 4 mi inside the park.

Looming 11,301 feet above Grants to the northeast, Mt. Taylor is the highest peak in northwestern New Mexico. Its stark presence on the horizon gives a sense of why the mountain is considered sacred not just to the Acoma, but to the Zuni, Laguna, and Navajo as well. You can drive fairly far up the mountain for fine views and hop out to hike on marked trails. On the main road to the peak, about 10 mi northeast of Grants off NM 547 (Exit 85 from Interstate 40), Coal Mine (small fee) and Lobo Canyon (free) campgrounds, both at 7,400 feet elevation, offer first-come, first-served campsites (and restrooms, but no drinking water) amidst ponderosa pines. The campgrounds are closed September 30 through May 15; call the Cibola National Forest/Mt. Taylor Ranger District station (505/346–3900www.fs.fed.us) for information.

The annual Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon takes place in mid-February, when some 600 unbelievably fit athletes compete in a highly challenging bicycle, foot, ski, and snowshoe 42-mi race near the summit.

Created in 1962 when the dam was built, the eponymous lake at Navajo Lake State Park is a popular boating and fishing spot; you can rent boats at two marinas. Short trails lead to the lakeshore, and the 3½-mi-long cottonwood-shaded San Juan River Trail parallels the river down below the dam. Driving the narrow road across the top of the dam, with no guardrails, is a slightly hair-raising, memorable experience. A fishing permit is required.