Become a Travel Agent in Abiquiu

Located northwest of Santa Fe and 80 mi/130 km north of Albuquerque, Abiquiu, New Mexico, is where artist Georgia O'Keeffe lived for many years. You can still see the beautiful chimney rock formations (and even a few cattle skulls) made famous in her...

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Become a Travel Agent in Acoma Pueblo

Acoma, or “Sky City” is located on the top a mesa, elevated area of land with a flat top, hundreds of feet above the surrounding land. Once you have reached the top of the mesa you can see breathtaking panoramic views of surrounding mesas and mountai...

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Become a Travel Agent in Alamogordo

Near Alamogordo is the birthplace of the Atomic Age. In 1945, the first atomic weapon was detonated at the Trinity Site—a 146-acre/59-hectare area of snow-white gypsum sand dunes about 50 mi/80 km northwest of town. The site is now part of the White ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico, could be the place to fulfill dreams of a southwestern getaway. A centuries-old Spanish church anchors the city's plaza, chili-pepper-spiked delicacies are found on almost every menu, and residential neighborhoods are chock-f...

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Become a Travel Agent in Artesia

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Become a Travel Agent in Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is part of the Guadalupe Mountain range southeast of New Mexico and southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA. 250 million years ago the area surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park was submerged in the sea - home to ma...

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Become a Travel Agent in Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Certain ancient places—the Egyptian pyramids come to mind—capture the imagination with their enduring majesty and mystery. Chaco Canyon is one of those places. Located in the northwest corner of the state, these ruins were built over a period of thre...

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Become a Travel Agent in Chimayo

Located between Santa Fe and Taos, Chimayo is home to El Santuario de Chimayo. This unadorned but striking shrine was built on the site where, in 1810, villagers claimed to see a light emanating from the ground. When they investigated, they unearthed...

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Become a Travel Agent in Clayton

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Become a Travel Agent in Clovis

This town just west of the Texas border on Highway 84, 200 mi/320 km east of Albuquerque, is the home of the Norman Petty Studios, where the late Buddy Holly recorded many of his most famous rock 'n' roll hits in the late 1950s. The studio is still i...

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Become a Travel Agent in Espanola

Espanola, New Mexico, is best known for being at the heart of a handful of historic pueblos: San Juan, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and Pojoaque, to name a few. Espanola will also appeal to car buffs: It's a center for low-riders and classic autos. It ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Farmington

Located in one of the most fertile valleys in New Mexico, Farmington is 150 mi/240 km northwest of Albuquerque and just east of the Navajo Nation Reservation, which stretches into Arizona. The city hosts a huge hot-air balloon fiesta every spring, an...

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Become a Travel Agent in Four Corners, NM

New Mexico's northwestern corner joins three other states—the only place in the U.S. where four states share a common point. A monument run by the Navajo tribe (whose reservation encompasses this corner of the state) allows visitors to stand in Utah,...

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Become a Travel Agent in Gallup

You may find yourself passing through Gallup, 130 mi/210 km west of Albuquerque: Both Interstate 40 and Amtrak's Southwest Chief rail line run through town, as does a portion of old Route 66 (the town even gets a mention in the musical tribute to the...

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Become a Travel Agent in Grants

Another town that preserves a portion of Route 66, Grants lies near one of the largest deposits of uranium in the world, 75 mi/120 km west of Albuquerque. Its discovery in 1950 made uranium extraction the main business in Grants. The New Mexico Museu...

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Become a Travel Agent in Las Cruces

Not far from White Sands Missile Range is Las Cruces, 200 mi/320 km south of Albuquerque, the largest city in southwest New Mexico, a leading agricultural center and home of New Mexico State University. The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum inc...

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Become a Travel Agent in Las Vegas, NM

Las Vegas started as a farming and ranching settlement in the 1840s after a dozen or so families petitioned Mexico for a land grant. It was up and running when Gen. Stephen Kearny declared New Mexico part of the U.S.—the announcement was made from a ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Lincoln, NM

Lincoln, New Mexico, located 135 mi/215 km southeast of Albuquerque, owes its fame to Henry McCarty, better known as William Bonney and best known as Billy the Kid. It was in this frontier town in April 1881 that the Kid escaped from the Lincoln Coun...

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Become a Travel Agent in Los Alamos

Los Alamos, 55 mi/90 km north of Albuquerque, is where Robert Oppenheimer convened the team of scientists that first developed and tested the atomic bomb. In the years since, the town has become the center of the nation's nuclear-arms program. Today,...

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Become a Travel Agent in Mescalero

Mescalero, New Mexico, is home to Ski Apache, part of the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino. The park collects an average of 15 ft/4.6 m of powder each season and peaks at 11,500 ft/3,565 m, with 55 distinct trails for all levels. Eleven lifts...

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Become a Travel Agent in Pueblos of New Mexico

No trip to New Mexico is complete without a visit to at least one of the state's 19 Native American pueblos. Although they are centuries-old dwelling sites, they are also modern communities whose residents deal with modern issues. One of those issues...

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Become a Travel Agent in Raton

Once an important stop on the Santa Fe Trail, Raton (pronounced ra-TONE) is near the Raton Pass into Colorado. Today's visitors can experience the same sense of wonder that the pioneers must have felt as they observed the majestic ascent of the mount...

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Become a Travel Agent in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

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Become a Travel Agent in Roswell

This is where the aliens landed ... maybe. Some believe it started in 1947, when the U.S. military recovered unusual wreckage on a ranch near Roswell. Though the official report later claimed it was the remnants of a weather balloon, others maintain ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Ruidoso

This small town in the mountains 130 mi/210 km southeast of Albuquerque is a popular vacation area, especially for people from west Texas. Many travelers go there to gamble at Ruidoso Downs and the attached Billy the Kid Casino. Slot machines are ava...

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Become a Travel Agent in Santa Ana Pueblo

Santa Ana Pueblo has a long history of progress. In 1709, the pueblo purchased 5,000 acres along the Río Grande to increase its agricultural production and land base. The pueblo's 15,000-acre Spanish land grants and additional land purchases brought ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Santa Fe

Even though Santa Fe is capital of New Mexico, the state's third largest city, and has been around longer than all but one other city in America, it is still relatively unknown to many U.S. travelers. The city history spans almost 400 years yet much ...

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Become a Travel Agent in Taos

This town tucked into the Sangre de Christo Mountains, 70 mi/113 km northeast of Santa Fe, has attracted artists since the late 1800s because of its beautiful setting and dramatic light. Today, it's still full of artists, galleries and travelers who ...

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Become a Travel Agent in White's City

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New Mexico

We can't confirm or deny the incident, but if aliens did crash their UFO in Roswell, they certainly picked the right state: New Mexico is knee-deep in the mystical and the mysterious. Disappearing civilizations, secret atomic test sites, Native American healers, divine dirt and miraculous staircases are just some of the things you'll find that are hard to explain.

The unknowable can be fun, but it's only a part of New Mexico's allure. Whether or not they hold powerful energy vortexes, the mountains and desert are beautiful to look at and thrilling to hike, bike, ski or raft through. Whether or not Pueblo people have the remedy for the ills of civilization, their art is engaging and their communities fascinating. We think you'll have a completely enjoyable time taking New Mexico's scenery and activities at face value. If you happen to gain some spiritual insight (or meet an alien) along the way, so much the better.

Geography

Most of New Mexico lies above 4,000 ft/1,220 m and is a wonderful combination of mountains, rolling hills, deserts, plains and farmland. Generally, the farther north you go, the more mountainous the state becomes, with the most scenic portion being the north-central area, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains march south from Colorado.

History

One of New Mexico's oldest mysteries is the fate of the Ancestral Pueblo people (sometimes called the Anasazi, although that term has fallen out of favor), who developed an advanced civilization beginning about AD 800. Their famous multitiered adobe dwellings housed as many as 1,500 people, and some were constructed in breathtaking settings atop cliffs and mesas. (You can see several of these structures at Chaco Canyon and Bandelier National Monument, among other places). Yet by about 1200, their dwellings were abandoned. Various explanations have been offered for the sudden end of the Ancestral Pueblo culture, including drought, warfare among communities and the rise of a new religion.

When the Spanish explorer Coronado first came through the region in 1540, he found sizable communities dispersed along the upper Rio Grande. The inhabitants of these settlements likely were the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans. Spain's first settlement, at San Juan Pueblo in 1598, was followed 12 years later by the founding of Santa Fe. From the outset, relations between the colonists and the Native Americans were strained and, at times, brutal and bloody. In 1680, the oppressed pueblos staged a successful revolt. Although the Spanish would eventually regain control, the pueblo uprising was one of the most substantial resistance movements among Native Americans. It deterred Spanish colonization for 12 years.

The Spanish territory became a possession of newly independent Mexico in 1821 and was passed to the U.S. after the Mexican-American War. New Mexico grew more slowly than other western U.S. territories (it didn't become a state until 1912), but the discovery of uranium and other energy resources stimulated growth and revenue for the state and gave it a prominent place in the nuclear age.

As with other major cities in the Southwest, Albuquerque has grown steadily in the past 30 years, while Santa Fe and other mountain areas have become popular travel and retirement destinations. Down south, the climate and border location of Las Cruces make it a popular choice for both retirees and new businesses. The state continues to attract investment attention, with moviemakers focusing on the mountains and cities of New Mexico because of tax breaks and other incentives. Aviation, technology and increasing trade with Mexico are all part of New Mexico's modern mix.

Snapshot

New Mexico's main attractions include Native American and Hispanic culture, adobe architecture, spectacular mountain and desert scenery, festivals (celebrating everything from hot-air balloons to grand opera to folk art), Santa Fe, art galleries, Carlsbad Caverns, ghost towns, Taos, Native American pueblos, ancient ruins, Albuquerque, casino gambling, skiing and distinctively spicy cuisine (often made with green and red chilies).

New Mexico will satisfy any traveler interested in the Southwest. An American locale with European and Native American roots, the state gives tourists a sense of place and community lacking in many other parts of the U.S. Those who are looking for watersports, big-city entertainment or short drive times between attractions may find the state less to their liking.

Potpourri

If you want to ride a steam train through beautiful alpine scenery, make reservations for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad from Chama, New Mexico, to Antonito, Colorado. It has been called the most spectacular mountain railroad in North America. The line operates late May-late October, with occasional rides in wintry December.

New Mexico is the oldest wine-growing region in the U.S. and has 21 vineyards and wineries. Many offer tours and tastings. We're especially fond of a sparkling wine made in Albuquerque called Gruet.

Drive about 50 mi/80 km west of Socorro on Highway 60, and you'll see the shape of a large "Y" in the far distance. It's the Very Large Array (VLA) Radio Telescope: Some 27 huge dish antennas (each of them 82 ft/25 m in diameter) lined up across the desert. (It was seen in the film Contact, starring Jodie Foster.) The telescope is used to photograph distant galaxies. A visitors center is open at the site, and tours are available.

Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, was once New Mexico's territorial governor.

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, is the only town in the U.S. named after a game show. Its name was officially changed in the 1950s as part of a publicity stunt that benefited both the TV show and the town.

The Lightning Field, in southwestern New Mexico, is an internationally recognized piece of art by sculptor Walter de Maria. Viewing its gridlike pattern (advance reservations and an overnight stay are required) amid a vast expanse of sky can be life-changing.

Smokey the Bear was New Mexican, found as a cub in 1950 after a forest fire in the Capitan Gap. He later lived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and became the beloved firefighting symbol of schoolchildren across the U.S. He died in 1976 and is buried near Capitan.

New Mexico's second and final statue for U.S. Statuary Hall, is of Pope (pronounced poh-pay), who led the successful Pueblo Revolt in 1680.

Virgin Galactic and New Mexico have teamed up to build a Spaceport near Alamogordo.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson holds the world record for most hands shaken in a day: 13,392.

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