Smack in the center of New Mexico you'll find a mostly empty region of hills and plains. But 350 years ago, the Salinas Valley was one of the busiest places in the Pueblo Indian world. Some 10,000 people lived there, and it bustled with trade between local Pueblos, the Acoma, Zuni, Spaniards and Apaches. Impressive churches were built of stone and wood, and what remains of them and the Pueblos are preserved within Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
The Spaniards who arrived at the end of the 16th century valued the Salinas region for the vast quantities of salt nearby, as well as the prospect of converting so many tribespeople to Christianity. While the visitor center is in the town of Mountainair, about 1½ hours by car from Albuquerque, the monument itself consists of three separate sites, each with interpretive trails. Abó, off Hwy 60, 9 miles west of Mountainair, is known for the unusual buttressing of its church, rarely seen in buildings of that era. Quarai, 8 miles north of Mountainair along Hwy 55, features the most intact church within the monument. Gran Quivira, 25 miles south of Mountainair along Hwy 55, has the most extensively excavated Indian ruins, along with exhibits about Salinas Pueblo life.
The most scenic way to reach the area from Albuquerque is to take Hwys 337 and 55 south along the eastern side of the Manzano Mountains.