Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Top New Mexico Outdoor and Indoor Activities
15
items New Mexico is super rich in history, culture, art and the best food in the United States.
These caverns / caves are jaw-dropping stunning. They are a testament to when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone carved over 250 million years ago. One of the most notable experiences for us was the 400,000 Brazilian bats that leave the caverns at sunset.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
I cried when I was in this chapel. The story of the miraculous staircase strikes at the heart. Seeing it in person strikes at the soul.
Loretto Chapel
It's one thing to see O'Keefe's paintings online but quite another to see them in person. The profoundly rich colors especially struck me. Her vibrant colors and radical depictions of flowers are immediately striking. One of my favorite art museums to visit.
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Meow Wolf creates large-scale interactive and immersive art installations. Its flagship attraction, House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, is a 20,000-square-foot facility that includes a concert venue.
Meow Wolf Santa Fe | Immersive Art Museum (w/ Pictures) | House of Eternal Return
White Sands National Park is located in New Mexico and completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. The park covers 145,762 acres Tularosa Basin in the south central region of the state. The white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth. One of the many natural wonders of New Mexico!
White Sands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
This awesome museum is located in Roswell, New Mexico. What are the odds?! It was organized to inform the public about what has come to be known as "The Roswell Incident." The Museum is absolutely incredible and totally dedicated to be the leading source in history, science and research about wordly UFO events. We loved this place. It is so informative and is kept up to date constantly.
International UFO Museum & Research Center
WE LOVE THIS PLACE! From the outrageously awesome name to the fantastic history, it is an absolute must-see and to experience. Located in White Oaks, it used to be a rousing gold town before the gold ran out. It's now a ghost town with few residents and this historic, top 10 western bars in the country. Go for the food, drink, live music, dancing and shoot-outs and horse racing and so much more!
No Scum Allowed Saloon | White Oaks, NM
This UFO-shaped building lights up neon at night and shines like space metal during the day. It is the only UFO / space themed McDonald's in the world. Everything about this place is UFO themed. Trust us - go at night. It is super fun!
McDonald's, Roswell
If you want a surreal, not-of-this-world landscape, the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness is for you. I felt I had an out-of-body experience - it did not seem real. Located in northwestern New Mexico, the wilderness is a badland area of rolling water-carved clay hills. The area is rich in fossils and has little vegetation to conceal geological formations. It is a stark beauty that is extra-wordly.
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness
Okey, dokey, no. My family insisted on going in. I waited outside. It's in Albuquerque and dedicated to education and clearing up misconceptions about rattlesnakes. I'm glad others have the courage to go in. :)
Rattlesnake Museum, Old Town Albuquerque - Home
My dad used to grow grapes, so this place was just so wonderful to visit! Very peaceful and beautiful.
Casa Rondeña | Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM Winery & Events
We love all kinds of art, and this place takes you back to the art of between 1000 and 1400 AD. There are over 21,000 petroglyphs thought to be by the Jornada Mogollon people. We could stay here for years. Incredibly compelling and educational!
Three Rivers Petroglyph Site | Bureau of Land Management
This park is on our travel list. Chaco Culture National Historical Park hosts a large concentration of pre-Columbian indigenous ruins of pueblos. It's located between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash. It contains the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins north of Mexico, preserving one of the most important cultural and historical areas in the United States. Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major cultural center for the Ancestral Puebloans.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)
We could live on Canyon Road for the rest of our lives. In only ½ a mile, yes, ½ of a mile (!), you can find more than 100 galleries, restaurants and boutiques. Incredibly varied and unique! We have walked this road numerous times, and we are STILL making spectacular discoveries. Don't miss this!!
Canyon Road, Santa Fe
Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years.
Taos Pueblo