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New Mexico
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   National Parks

Southwestern New Mexico - Travel and Vacation Overview

Southwestern New Mexico is home to the first protected wilderness in the world, the Gila (pronounced Hee-la), which along with the with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness and Blue Range Wilderness forms the New Mexico Gila National Forest. Though not densely populated, Southwest New Mexico offers some of the best camping and remote vacationing the American Southwest has to offer.

Scroll down for a summary of each of its attractions. Click on any link below to access comprehensive travel information for that destination.

Major Attractions and Cities

DIA Lightning Field

Commissioned by the DIA Foundation, The Lightning Field is a piece of land art by Walter de Maria consisting of 400 polished stainless-steel rods arranged in an open field. Up to six visitors stay at the DIA cabin for one night at a time to full experience the massive sculpture.

Very Large Array

Consisting of 27 radio telescopes linked together, the VLA is one of the most sensitive astronomical observation tools available to modern sceince. The VLA was built in the middle of the New Mexico desert to minimize outside radio interference, but the facility offers a full visitor's center and guided tours by the operational staff.

Gila National Forest

With elevation ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000 feet, the Gila National Forest encomapses a wide variety of camping, hiking, biking and tourist attractions. Maps and permits are available from the visitor and ranger stations, but the park is largely a protected wilderness, meaning the principles of Leave No Trace apply to all use. As such the park remains in pristine condition for outdoor recreation.

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s. Archaeologists believe the residents of this small enclave originated at the Chaco Canyon civilization and that they came to the Gila Wilderness when drought forced that site to be abandoned. The Gila Cliff Dwellings are remarkable in their setting amidts the vast wilderness and the area likely appears the same as it did when it was inhabited.

The Catwalk

Originally a plank-board walkway on top of a steel pipe pumping water to a local ore processing plant, the Catwalk trail is suspended 12 feet over the Whitewater Creek as it winds through a canyon. Below the Catwalk hikers can see jumping trout, pools, waterfalls and the geological remains of ancient volcanic flows.

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