We can't believe it's been a year since we left New Mexico to move to Alaska! And what a year it's been! We've had so many adventures but we thought, on our one-year anniversary of moving, we would do a bit of reminiscing.
While we only spent 3 years living in Southern New Mexico, we made a whole lot of memories and we fondly look back at our time there. There's a lot that we miss about living in New Mexico! We did a lot and saw a lot and this list probably won't even cover half of it! So besides the epic New Mexican sunsets, here's a look back at our top 12 favorite day trips: 1. White Sands National Park
This may not count as an actual day trip because we never had to travel very far to get here. But being that it was our absolute favorite place, we couldn't leave it off this list! Only about 12 miles out of Alamogordo's city limits, this 275 sq. mile park of gypsum sand dunes makes you feel like you're in another world. We loved taking sleds out to the park year round to go "sledding" down the steep dunes.
Though the park hours change quite frequently, the park holds special nightly events that are so cool to experience! Every month, visitors can attend full moon walks with park rangers. We remember them holding concerts some nights, featuring local bands. One night, we attended the park to view a meteor shower. New Mexico has some of the "darkest skies" in the country (meaning very little light pollution) making it an amazing place to view astronomical events, especially in the middle of a sand dune park! Every year, at the end of September, White Sands holds a Hot Air Balloon Invitational where a handful of balloon pilots that are attending the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta come down for a little pre-show, weather permitting. If you can get to the park at the crack of dawn, watching the hot air balloons take off from the sand dunes is an unforgettable experience! And later at night, you can catch a night glow in Alamogordo's Balloon Park. White Sands National Park is a must-see, even if just to climb to the top of the dunes and take in it's unparalleled beauty. 2. McGinn's Pistachioland
Okay, we're still not getting very far out of town, but about 15 minutes from the other side of Alamogordo you will find the world's largest pistachio! That's worth a mention here right?? McGinn's Pistachioland is a place that we frequented, whether it was a stop for some pistachio ice cream for ourselves, or to take visiting family/friends to experience. Pistachioland is open every day and offers hourly tours from 10am-4pm. We loved taking the motorized tours through the farm and learning new things each time, from the history of the farm to the history of growing pistachios.
While waiting for your tour to start, a browse through the gift shop is a must. You can sample all the different flavored pistachios, pecans, and wines they make on site! After your tour, don't forget to grab a free cookie with the price of your tour ticket, or a discounted ice cream. Can you even go to Pistachioland without grabbing some pistachio ice cream? We highly recommend a stop here! 3. Nichols Ranch and Orchards
About 25 minutes out of town, you'll find Nichols Ranch and Orchards in La Luz. This is a U-pick farm that we would visit every first week of June to pick our fill of delicious cherries. You can taste as you go and figure out which kinds of cherries you like, as they grow multiple varieties. Our oldest still talks about going to the cherry farm. This is definitely a fun family outing!
4. Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
About 45 minutes outside of Alamogordo, in the neighboring little town, Tularosa, you'll find the Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site. There are over 21,000 petroglyphs scattered around the 50 acre area that date between 900 - 1400 AD. A lot of the art can be seen along a 1/2 mile trail winding through rocks and boulders. Another short trail leads to a partially excavated prehistoric village.
We got pretty interested in all the Native American sites while we were in New Mexico. We visited half a dozen sites during our time there (you can check out our trip to Bandelier here) but this one is easy to get to if you've got a free afternoon! You can even check out Casa de Suenos in Tularosa for lunch or dinner! 5. Cloudcroft, NM
25 minutes up Highway 82 will bring you to a little mountain village called Cloudcroft. We visited this cute, historic mountain village many times for events throughout the year or just for a change of scenery. Cloudcroft offers many unique shops, restaurants, and outdoor recreation - escaping the heat in the summer was definitely more than enough reason for a visit!
The Apple Barn is a cute souvenir shop with some great homemade food products. Behind the apple barn, you'll find Cadwallader Mountain Farm. You could catch us here every August loading up buckets of the best peaches we've ever had at this U-pick farm. Another place that frequently brought us to Cloudcroft was Mad Jack's Mountaintop BBQ. "Mad Jack", himself, is a Texas native who brings his Texas BBQ skills and knowhow to this little town - even driving the 9 hours one way every 6 weeks to pick up the good old Texan oak to get that flavor just right. Things to know before you go: Mad Jack's is only open Thursday-Sunday from 11AM until they run out of meat! Which is usually around 3PM. If you're going on a weekend, we recommend getting there early, because the line to get in gets quite long! If that doesn't tell you how good it is, I don't know how else to convince you except to say, this was our last meal in New Mexico before we moved away ;) 6. Ruidoso, NM
About an hour outside of Alamogordo, up highway 70, is the village of Ruidoso. Ruidoso is home to the southernmost Ski resort in the U.S. as well as the Ruidoso Downs, which hosts the World's richest Quarter Horse races, the All-American Futurity. Ruidoso is another historic town but is a little more touristy than Cloudcroft, with a variety of shopping and restaurants as well as a casino at Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort.
We loved taking the drive up to Ruidoso for the occasional fishing trip. We also loved going up for the horse races every once in a while! Sacred Grounds Coffee and Tea House was a great little place to grab some lunch over the river. 7. Lincoln, NM
About 80 miles out of Alamogordo is the unincorporated village of Lincoln, NM. This one street "town" was made (in)famous during the Lincoln County War in 1878, when Billy the Kid made his most famous escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse. In fact, President Rutherford B. Hayes called Lincoln "the most dangerous street in America" due to the shoot outs that happened here.
The street has been preserved as it was in the 1870s-80s and is now a dedicated historical site including 17 structures. Seven of the structures are open year round and two of them are open more seasonally as museums. Once a year, in early August, they hold Old Lincoln Days including re-enactors playing Billy the Kid and his last escape. But during the rest of the year, there are knowledgable guides who can tell you all about the events that happened back then. If you happen to run into a guide who lives on the street, they just may be able to tell you about hauntings they've experienced ;) Another thing that makes Lincoln famous is that this is the area where Smokey the Bear is from. And 15 minutes from Lincoln is Fort Stanton which was built in 1855 to serve as a base of operations against the Mescalero Apache Indians. In 1899 it was converted into a tuberculosis hospital. During the Great Depression, it was turned into a CCC work camp and later a German and Japanese internment camp during WWII. It's history also includes being used as a hospital for the developmental handicapped and even a women's prison and rehab programs. If you're into history at all, Lincoln is a really great area to explore and learn about the wild west! 8. Runyan Ranches
About 60 miles east of Alamogordo is a little petting zoo in Mayhill, NM called Runyan Ranches. Runyan, the resident camel is there to greet visitors as well as a variety of other animals, including goats, zebras, ostriches, kangaroos, llamas, etc. The gift shop also has local honey and other yummy treats. We stopped here on our way out of town, but if you are looking for a fun family outing for the day, this is definitely one to add to your list.
9. Roswell, NM
"Cowboys and Indians" are only part of the history New Mexico has to offer. About 2 hours east of Alamogordo, you'll find the city of Roswell, made famous in 1947 as the site of an alleged UFO crash. We visited Roswell's UFO Museum when we were passing through. It largely focuses on the 1947 incident but does mention other incidents that happened later in other locations. It's definitely worth a stop if you believe in the extraterrestrial ;) If you don't, it may just make a believer out of you!
The town is fun to explore, with all the streetlights made to look like aliens. One thing we wished we had experienced during our time in New Mexico was Roswell's annual UFO festival they hold each summer. 10. Carlsbad Caverns National Park
About 3 hours east of Alamogordo, you can reach Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad Cavern has one of the world's largest underground chambers with countless formations, but one of the most impressive things about the caves is the steep, winding natural entrance. "The Big Room" however, is also accessible by elevator, just prepare for a wait time to use that service. We hiked down to the bottom using the Natural Entrance's 1-1/4 mile trail (Hayden was 2 and Ashlee was about 32 weeks pregnant with Colbie) and used the elevator to come back up.
The cave is open year-round but from mid-April through mid-October, thousands of bats fly out of the cavern each evening, which you can watch from the Bat Flight Amphitheater outside of the cave. 11. Dripping Springs, Las Cruces
The Dripping Springs Natural area is about an hours drive from Alamogordo, located in the city of Las Cruces. While the area has a few different hiking trails, the Dripping Springs Trail is an easy 3 mile roundtrip trail ending at a natural spring at the back of the canyon. Water seems to drip magically from the rock wall throughout the year, but the flow of water varies during different seasons.
The Dripping Springs trail follows a path made by stagecoaches over 100 years ago. A man named Eugene Van Patten constructed a mountain camp/resort in the 1870s. The resort attracted many notable guests, including Pancho Villa, Billy the Kid, and Pat Garett. You can still see the remains of the resort and livery along the trail. To make a long story short, the mountain resort ended when the land was acquired by Dr. Nathan Boyd, who started construction on a sanatorium in 1910 which lasted a little over 10 years, the remains of which can also be seen in the area. In the end, a local rancher purchased the property and A.B. Cox's ranch house now serves as the visitor's center. The trail is an easy hike, full of history and it's fun to imagine the coaches traveling the trails way back when. 12. Hatch Chile Festival
About 100 miles west of Alamogordo, the village of Hatch (with a population of under 2000) brings in thousands of people each Labor Day weekend in celebration of their world famous chiles. You can roll down your windows and smell the roasting chiles as soon as you pull off I-25. This little festival is a pure New Mexican tradition. Though the festival brings in a carnival with rides and live entertainment, downtown is a spectacle in and of itself from the Mexican street food, the trucks laden down with 100s of pounds of chiles, and the colorful chile ristras all around the town.
Honorable Mentions
One place that we were able to explore a little bit, even though it wasn't running when we were actually there, was Sunspot, NM. This unincorporated community is about an hours drive from Alamogordo and is the location of a large solar observatory. Of course, when we went, they were running the telescopes at night (whoops) but the visitors center is open daily and we were still able to explore the grounds and see the telescopes from the outside. It also had an amazing view of the valley!
We also have to mention our trip to City of Rocks State Park! While this trip wasn't exactly a day trip for us - we camped for the night - it is definitely worthy of this list! Only a 2.5 hour drive from Alamogordo, it was a fun little camping spot. As you approach the park on highway 61, the giant boulders making up "the city of rocks" seem to appear out of nowhere. The rock formations are so fun to climb around and explore, with some of the reaching 40 feet tall!
And last, but not least - and also not technically a "day trip", since we also spent a night camping - was a trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings! The drive was about 4 hours, one way, to the west of Alamogordo. Our campground was super fun, right along a little river and included some hot springs.
The trail up to the cliff dwellings is about a mile and rangers are there to answer questions. The dwellings themselves were built in the late 1200s. There's just something fascinating about imagining people living here, climbing up and down ladders to get food and water, but also, with two small children, wondering how they raised their families while living in a cave in the face of a cliff! Even if this is a little more than a day trip, we highly recommend a visit! Along with all the sites around Southern New Mexico, there were sites in the town of Alamogordo that we loved to visit. The little zoo, founded in 1898 - the oldest zoo in the southwest - was one of our favorite spots. The New Mexico Museum of Space History, where you can visit the gravesite of Ham, the first Chimp in space, is also a good place to visit. And we can't forget about with the toy train depot, where visitors can ride on a 1/5 scale train around a mile long track. We sure miss New Mexico and we look back with fondness on all the adventures we had there. Though we're always grateful for the new experiences, opportunities, and adventures that our new location has to offer! It's crazy to us to think that it's already been a year since we left! Have you been to any of these places? Or did we miss any of your favorites? Or do any of these places make you want to visit New Mexico?? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget to pin for future reference! Follow us on Instagram to see more of our day-to-day adventures and make sure you get out and enjoy where YOU live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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