Recreation and Places of Interest

The rugged and spacious beauty of New Mexico’s mountains and deserts offers many recreational opportunities and places to visit. Ruins of early Native American civilizations, abandoned Spanish missions, crumbling military outposts, battlefields of the American Civil War (1861-1865), and deserted mining towns are reminders of the state’s colorful past. Pueblos that existed before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores continue to flourish, as do Spanish and Mexican communities.

Outdoor sports can be enjoyed year-round in New Mexico. Fishing, boating, and water skiing are popular sports in the state’s lakes and reservoirs. Fly-fishing is a common sport on many streams and rivers in the state, and rafting and kayaking on the Río Grande below Taos are enjoyed by many people. Facilities for winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding are operated at nine resorts. Five national forests provide facilities for hiking, camping, and fishing.

National Parks

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the southeast, is famous for the largest and most extensive underground caves and corridors found in North America. Eleven areas have been made national monuments. Near Alamogordo is White Sands National Monument, a huge desert of pure-white gypsum dunes. Bordering the monument are the military proving grounds where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. An extinct volcanic cinder cone rises 300 m (1,000 ft) in Capulin Volcano National Monument. El Malpais—“the badlands” in Spanish—is a volcanic area with a lava tube system 27 km (17 mi) long and ice caves. The area is also rich in ancient Pueblo history and features diverse ecosystems. Fort Union National Monument, north of Las Vegas, was once a military depot on the Santa Fe Trail. El Morro National Monument southwest of Grants, is a sandstone cliff popularly known as Inscription Rock. The oldest date on this historical autograph album is 1605, inscribed by Juan de Oñate, the Spanish colonizer of New Mexico. Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, near Mountainair, preserves a 17th-century Spanish mission.

The most notable and accessible ruins of prehistoric Pueblo culture in New Mexico have been made into national or state monuments. Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves the site of a 500-room dwelling occupied by the Pueblo (not Aztec) people during a period before the 14th century. Archaeological sites that provide glimpses into the 12,000 year span of human occupation of the Albuquerque area are preserved at Petroglyph National Monument. More than 15,000 Native American and Hispanic petroglyphs (images carved in rock) stretch 27 km (17 mi) along Albuquerque’s West Mesa escarpment. Chaco Culture National Historical Park has 13 major Native American ruins and hundreds of smaller sites representing the high point of Pueblo pre-Columbian civilization. Other Pueblo sites are at Bandelier National Monument and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, and at Pecos National Historical Park.

National Forests

A bear cub rescued in May 1950 from a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains, located in Lincoln National Forest, became famous as Smokey Bear, living symbol of forest fire prevention. Named for Kit Carson, noted frontier scout, the Carson National Forest includes the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and the highest point in the Southwest, Wheeler Peak. The Cibola National Forest encompasses four wilderness areas in central New Mexico: the Sandia Mountain, Manzano Mountain, Withington, and Apache Kid wildernesses. The Gila National Forest contains vast areas of rugged mountain ranges, little affected by civilization, and includes the Gila Wilderness Area. The Santa Fe National Forest is crowned by the spectacular Pecos Wilderness Area. Also in the state is the Kiowa National Grasslands and seven national wildlife preserves. Many migratory birds can be seen at the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on the Río Grande in central New Mexico.

State Parks

New Mexico has 33 state parks and recreational areas. The state parks at Bluewater, Bottomless, Conchas, Elephant Butte, Navajo, and Storrie lakes have facilities for a variety of water sports. City of Rocks State Park has a desert setting, and Hyde Memorial State Park is in a forest high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Ruins of old pueblos are found at Jemez and Coronado state monuments, both located northwest of the town of Bernalillo. The state maintains the Old Lincoln County Courthouse, from which Billy the Kid escaped in 1881. El Palacio State Monument, the Palace of the Governors, is in Santa Fe. This adobe structure, built around 1610, served as the seat of government during the successive periods of Spanish, Mexican, and finally U.S. territorial rule.

Museums

The state-run Museum of New Mexico was set up in Santa Fe’s Palace of the Governors in 1909. The museum includes the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, and the Museum of International Folk Art. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and the El Rancho de las Golondrinas are also in Santa Fe. In 1997 the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which exhibits paintings, drawings, and sculpture by the renowned artist who died in 1986, opened in Santa Fe. O’Keeffe’s home and studio, located in the small town of Abiquiu approximately 50 miles north of Santa Fe, is now owned by the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, and limited tours are made available to the public.

In the metropolitan area of Albuquerque there are several widely recognized museums and galleries. The Albuquerque Museum has collections of traditional and contemporary art from New Mexico and displays over 400 years of regional cultural history. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science features a collection of dinosaurs, a walk-through volcano, and an “evolution elevator.” The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center features performances of traditional Pueblo and other Native American dances and demonstrations of traditional crafts. Other museums in Albuquerque include the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, the University Art Museum and Jonson Gallery, the National Atomic Museum, the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, and the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque.

Other museums throughout the state cater to a variety of interests. At the Roswell Museum and Art Center is a collection of Robert H. Goddard’s experimental rockets. The Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos houses exhibits dealing with the history and current research of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Museums displaying Native American, Spanish, and Mexican crafts, anthropological artifacts, pioneer relics, and objects of regional interest are housed at state and national monuments and at colleges and universities.

Other Places to Visit

A few blocks away from El Palacio is the Mission of San Miguel, dating from 1710. Mesilla and the Old Town in Albuquerque retain traces of Spanish occupation. White Oaks, Cabezon, Mogollon, and many other ghost towns re-create for the visitor the early ranching or mining days.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia