Must-see attractions in New Mexico

  • The Milky Way galaxy over Fajada Mesa at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

    Chaco Culture National Historical Park

    New Mexico

    A 9-mile drive loops through ‘downtown Chaco,’ passing six major sites, with further opportunities to hike to more remote ruins and petroglyphs.

  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park

    Southeastern New Mexico

    While a cave might not sound quite as sexy as redwoods, geysers or the Grand Canyon, there’s no question that this one measures up on the national parks’…

  • Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

    Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

    New Mexico

    A relatively small site, these remarkable 13th-century cliff dwellings were only occupied by a small Mogollon group (30 to 80 people) for 20 years…

  • Santa Fe, New Mexico– April 30th, 2017: Meow Wolf art collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. Open to the public the main exhibit is the The House of Eternal Return..; Shutterstock ID 632888321; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Southwest POIs

    Meow Wolf

    Santa Fe

    If you've been hankering for a trip to another dimension but have yet to find a portal, the House of Eternal Return by Meow Wolf could be the place for…

  • Taos Pueblo

    Central New Mexico

    The Pueblo is centered on twin five-story adobe complexes, set on either side of the Río Pueblo de Taos, against the stunning backdrop of the Sangre de…

  • Just after sunset in Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico.

    Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area

    New Mexico

    This undeveloped realm of multicolored hoodoos, sculpted cliffs and balancing rocks is a surreal dream for photographers. Off the beaten track, it's well…

  • Santa Fe, NM: People outside the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in downtown Santa Fe, NM on a winter day.

    Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

    Santa Fe

    With 10 beautifully lit galleries in a rambling 20th-century adobe, this museum boasts the world's largest collection of O'Keeffe’s work. She’s best known…

  • White Sands National Park

    Southeastern New Mexico

    Undulating through the Tularosa Basin like something out of a dream, these ethereal dunes are a highlight of any trip to New Mexico, and a must on every…

  • El Santuario de Chimayo pilgrimage site in New Mexico.

    El Santuario de Chimayó

    Santa Fe Region

    Often called the Lourdes of America, the chapel was built in 1816, over a spot of earth said to have miraculous healing properties. The faithful come to…

  • The facade of the Albuquerque Museum.

    Albuquerque Museum

    Albuquerque

    Formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, this showpiece museum shouldn't be missed. With an engaging Albuquerque history gallery that's…

  • New Mexico, Albuquerque, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

    Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

    Albuquerque

    Collectively run by New Mexico's 19 Pueblos, this cultural center is an essential stop-off during even the shortest Albuquerque visit. Revamped in 2016,…

  • New Mexico, Aztec Ruins National Monument. Anasazi. Kiva Ruins.

    Aztec Ruins National Monument

    New Mexico

    This prehistoric pueblo was built around AD 1100, and connected with the larger settlement at Chaco via a road that ran due south. Its central feature, a…

  • UFO Museum.

    Roswell Museum & Art Center

    Southeastern New Mexico

    Roswell's excellent museum deserves a visit. Twelve galleries showcase Southwestern artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth,…

  • New Mexico, Santa Fe, Museum Hill, Museum of International Folk Art

    Museum of International Folk Art

    Santa Fe

    Santa Fe’s most unusual and exhilarating museum centers on the world's largest collection of folk art. Its huge main gallery displays whimsical and mind…

  • Bandelier National Monument

    Santa Fe Region

    Bandelier's 1.2-mile Main Loop Trail in Frijoles Canyon offers an excellent introduction to the main ruins and history of the park. The trail first passes…

  • SANTA FE, NM - OCTOBER 20, 2013: An adobe structure on Santa Fe, New Mexico's historic Plaza is home to the New Mexico Museum of Art. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

    The Plaza

    Santa Fe

    For more than 400 years, the Plaza has stood at the heart of Santa Fe. Originally it marked the far northern end of the Camino Real from Mexico; later, it…

  • Interior of the Western New Mexico University Museum, featuring displays of Mimbres Mogollon Prehistoric pottery.

    Western New Mexico University Museum

    New Mexico

    Fresh from a $3.2 million renovation, this excellent museum in the schools's former gymnasium boasts the world's largest collection of 1000-year-old…

  • Millicent Rogers Museum

    Taos

    Rooted in the private collection of model and oil heiress Millicent Rogers, who moved to Taos in 1947, this superb museum, 4 miles northwest of the Plaza,…

  • New Mexico, La Mesilla, . (Photo by Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)

    Mesilla

    New Mexico

    Dating back 150 years and little changed since, Mesilla is a charming old adobe town. Despite the souvenir shops and tourist-oriented restaurants, its…

  • Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

    Santa Fe

    This top-quality museum sets out to trace the origins and history of the various Native American peoples of the entire Southwest, and explain and…

  • Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA - August 2, 2016: Exterior of American International Rattlesnake Museum, Old Town Albuquerque.

    American International Rattlesnake Museum

    Albuquerque

    Anyone charmed by snakes and all things slithery will find this museum fascinating; for ophidiophobes, it’s a complete nightmare, filled with the world’s…

  • El Morro National Monument

    New Mexico

    The 200ft sandstone outcropping at this monument, also known as Inscription Rock, has been a travelers' oasis for millennia. The only reliable water…

  • Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner

    New Mexico

    The convoluted name sums up the tragic history of this bleak, windswept spot, beside the Pecos River 6 miles southeast of town. Fort Sumner was built in…

  • New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum

    New Mexico

    This terrific museum doesn’t just display engaging exhibits on the state’s agricultural history – it's got livestock too. Enclosures on the working farm…

  • Bradbury Science Museum

    Santa Fe Region

    You can't actually visit the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the first atomic bomb was conceived, but the Bradbury Science Museum has compelling…

  • TAOS, NEW MEXICO-AUGUST 13: Building materials sit outside an earthship being built in Taos on August 13, 2014. Earthships are environmentally friendly homes made of recycled materials.
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    Earthships

    Taos

    Numbering 70 Earthships, with capacity for 60 more, Taos’ pioneering community was the brainchild of architect Michael Reynolds. Built with recycled…

  • Spaceport America

    New Mexico

    New Mexico has been hurling objects out beyond the stratosphere since 1947, when the first missile was launched from the rolling dunes of White Sands,…

  • Sky City

    New Mexico

    Journeying to the mesa-top village at Acoma Pueblo, famous as Sky City, is like venturing into another world. There can be few more dramatic locations –…

  • Very Large Array Radio Telescope

    New Mexico

    A sense of awe, or maybe galactic sadness, inevitably strikes as you approach the 27 enormous antenna dishes sprouting from the high plains 40 miles west…

  • Garden Canopy at the Albuquerque Botanical Garden; Shutterstock ID 1404076877; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Botanic Garden

    Albuquerque

    The twin highlights in this peaceful park are the two large conservatories of Mediterranean and desert plants. You'll also find formal Japanese gardens, a…

  • Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA - March 18, 2013: The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in downtown Santa Fe focuses primarily on Native American Art.

    Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

    Santa Fe

    Primarily showing work by the students and faculty of the esteemed Institute of American Indian Arts, this museum also has the finest contemporary…

  • Ghost Ranch

    Santa Fe Region

    From 1934 onwards, before she made her home in Abiquiú, Georgia O'Keeffe lived and worked for extended periods on a dude ranch amid the colorful bluffs 15…

  • Los Alamos Historical Museum

    Santa Fe Region

    Several historic sites along Bathtub Row comprise this engaging museum, which spotlights the most notable inhabitants of the mesa. Pay admission and pick…

  • Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

    Taos

    Constructed in 1965, this vertigo-inducing steel bridge carries Hwy 64 across the Rio Grande about 12 miles northwest of Taos. It’s the seventh-highest…

  • Pueblo Bonito

    New Mexico

    The largest great house and the most thoroughly excavated, Pueblo Bonito is the star attraction at the park. Visiting the pueblo, built between 850 and…

  • International UFO Museum & Research Center

    Southeastern New Mexico

    There’s a lot of reading to be done here and exhibits dive right into the nitty-gritty, assuming familiarity with Roswell's extraterrestrial past. Display…