Contents
- When to visit
- Plan with the Map
- Cities
- Native Cultures
- National Parks & National Monuments
- Highlights of the trip (upcoming)
- Restaurants & Cafe (upcoming)
- Bisti Badlands / Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Trails
- Watch Video
Why visit New Mexico?
New Mexico, the land of enchantment, never ceases to amaze me with the variety of activities it has. Be it adventure, history, culture, food, desert, city life, art, wildlife, New Mexico has got it all. The towns are artistic, rich in culture, has its own flavor in food.
You can get away from the world for few days into the desert wilderness, and experience one of the best landscapes.
New Mexico is beautiful in any season, but, if you ask me, I will avoid summers. Bat flights at Carlsbad caverns would be the only thing you would be missing. I have visited the state twice in winters & I will be planning to visit it again during the balloon festival in upcoming years.
How to get most out of first visit?
The state has to offer so much that one visit isn’t enough. Although, some of the things here could help to plan for the bare minimum to get most out of the visit.
To balance the trip, you need at least 10 days. Here are some of the must do activities in NM.
- Taos (1 day) & Santa Fe (2 days)
- White Sands NP & Carlsbad Caverns (1 day each)
- Bisti Badlands, Ship Rock & Chaco (total 2 days)
- Acomo Pueblo & Bandelier National Monument, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. (1/2 day each)
This will give you a solid 10 day plan (additional 2 days as buffer). In case you are flying during the Hot Air Balloon Festival, feel free to skip Acomo / Bandelier.
Cities & Cultures
Some of the New Mexico Uniques
Bisti Badlands
Plaza Blanca
Shiprock
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks
The National Parks
The Fun Part
Santa Fe
How did I not go to Santa Fe?
You would wonder this as much as I did until you visit the town. This town will make you extend your stay.
Santa Fe is one of the oldest city in this country & a known historic trading center. Even today, you would find Native Americans displaying their art in Santa Fe Plaza.
The Art Hub
Tons & Tons of museum. Numerous artists have been in this city to feel the art & to get inspired. Georgia O’Keefe is a well known artist who got inspired by the landscapes of New Mexico when she visited in 1929.
Santa Fe is home to numerous art galleries & museums (too many to visit in 3 days). The most expensive painting we saw was about $800K.
Out of all the museums, we visited Museum of International Folk Art & Museum of Indian Art & Culture. We also visited plenty of art galleries on Canyon Rd. We had terrific time walking around the street.
Meow Wolf
I will be criticized after this section, but honestly, this place is not organized at all. The purpose of solving mystery cannot be achieved here because nothing is explained well. The notes are not enough.
It is crowded & the staff is not doing a good job to handle the crowd. Everyone is just gathering around the book log or safe where there could be next clue.
What will you get? An immersive experience of colors. You should visit this place as soon as it opens. It lines up crazy even after you are late by 30 mins. We were there by the Opening Time, even then we had to wait few minutes to enter couple of rooms after 30 mins.
Food
Restaurants we tried.
- Tomasita’s
- Clafoutis (Excellent for Brunch)
- El Callejón
- The Shed Restaurant
- Kakawa Chocolate House
I’m fan of Mexican Food. It’s usually my primary preference in California. Here, We liked everywhere we went except Tomasita’s. We didn’t get in Sazon. I’m not much of a food blogger, I went here by Google Reviews.
Taos & Acomo Pueblo
TAOS tastes UNIQUE.
After talking with locals, we were told that the community has given up on all industrial modernizations & decided to follow the traditional way of living & following their culture. So, say bye bye to electricity, water supply, gas lines, telephone lines, batteries etc.
It is fascinating to see the joy in people living in this community after giving up things that a 21st century individual is addicted to.
Houses in Taos don’t have doors to enter.
ACOMO has it’s own way.
60 miles west to Albuquerque, you will find another community which respects their culture with a sweet blend of modern technology.
The community conduct tours and gives you a glimpse of the local pueblos.
Chaco Culture & Bandelier National Monument.
Best intro of Chaco culture can be found here.
We came here for a short visit to walk around these ruins. You can get down in the areas where folks around 850AD used to do community discussions, in their kitchen. It’s interesting to learn the way of living of native American community about 1000 years ago.
About thousands of people used to live back then in harmony. They built these houses with no architectural degrees & yet they stand.
On August 19, 2013 Chaco Culture was officially designated an International Dark Sky Park.
Bandelier National Monument
These little caves were home to people. Human presence here goes back over 11,000 year. There are two main things to visit
- Talus Houses on Main Pueblo Loop Trail. (Cliff Dwellings) It takes 1 hour round trip.
- Continue Pueblo trail & you will reach the Alcove house (Avoid if you have fear of heights). There are 4 stairs each 30 to 50 feet tall to climb.
Both the above spots could be done in half a day. You could expand the visit to one whole day & also do Tyuonyi Overlook Point. Doing first two will give you an essence of the park.
Bisti Badlands
What do you want me talk here?
This place is land of magic. There are no marked trails. You are completely on your own. Find the maps at AllTrails.com, download it & make sure phones have batteries. Carry flash light, food, plenty of water & go in there only if you have general sense of direction. We met two groups of people who were lost after sunset. They found us because of our flash lights.
We did Bisti Wash Loop. If you do it right, you will be back in 5.5 miles round trip. It includes
- Chocolate Hoodoos
- Flat Tops
- Cracked Eggs (third)
- Petrified Woods (my favorite)
- Table Tops (second favorite)
Don’t spare to find Bisti Arch. It’s waste of time.
Cracked Eggs is a beautiful place to find unique compositions. I would encourage to spend some time here around sunrise / sunset to get nice shots.
You can advance your Badlands experience by going to Valley of Dreams loop trail & Aa-shi-sle-pah trail.
The National Parks
White Sands National Park
You can spend sunset here. Enjoy your day in the sands. Ensure to do the board walk.
Pull up your car to any parking lot deep in the dunes & enjoy your day. Bring a nice meal to pamper your experience.
If you have kids, get a sand board to slide on.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Water art at it’s best. History on how this place was found & then explored is very inspiring. Jim White, in his teens, unlike other boys of his age, saw smoke on the mountain & started riding bike to that direction only to find out that it isn’t smoke, but a million bats coming out of a cave.
The natural entrance to go down would be my preferred route & elevator to come back up will be a smart move.
Reservations are needed. Early morning is preferred. You will find less people howling your back with small talks. Round Trip takes about 2 to 3 hours. Restrooms available once you reach the Big Room.
Take the Detour 