State Overviews
New Mexico
Culture
Reginal Overviews
Northwest NM
North Central NM
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Southwest NM
Southeast NM
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Activities and Attractions
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Archeological Sites
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Historical Sites
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Monuments & Notable Buildings
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New Mexico Culture
Archeological Sites - Click here to move.
| Aztec Ruins National Monument
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| Aztec |
505-334-6174 |
Free-$5 |
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Around 1100 A.D. ancestral Pueblo people embarked on an ambitious building project along the Animas River in northwestern New Mexico. In less than three decades they built a monumental “great house.” Aztec West stands three-stories high, stretches longer than a football field and once had as many as 500-rooms including a ceremonial “great kiva” over 40-feet in diameter. |
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Art Galleries & Museums - Click here to move.
| Expressions in Bronze by McGary Studios
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| Ruidoso |
505-257-3790 |
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These "Expressions in Bronze" are triumphs of sculpted realism. Whether you've come to buy or just to browse, you'll want to see these sculptures up close, rather than flattened as photographs. |
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| The Old Pass Gallery
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| Raton |
505-445-2052 |
Free |
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Famous celebrity photos share space with local art, and rotate out for new exhibits. The Old Pass Gallery is not only a gallery and gift shop, but a community center that hosts monthly art shows. |
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| Gallery 408
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| Carrizozo |
505-648-2598 |
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An art gallery and cultural hub, Gallery 408 houses music and workshops as well as art. Visit during their auction if you like, and certainly walk through their sculpture garden. |
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| Gallup Cultural Center
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| Gallup |
505-863-4131 |
Free |
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The Gallup Cultural Center is largely a center for Southwestern Native American culture, and there are Native dances held nightly in the summer. Don't miss the Storyteller Museum, which not only collects Native artifacts, but relays their history through story and song. |
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| Navajo Gallery
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| Taos |
505-758-3250 |
Free |
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This is the gallery of the famous Native American R.C. Gorman and it continues to sell his work even after his death. Come here to buy both prints and originals of his uniquely expressive art, or just to browse. |
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| Space Murals
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| East of Las Cruces |
505-382-0977 |
Free |
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Space Murals is not only a monument to the space program, but to the enthusiasm for the space program. A giant water tower mural stands outside, one of several outside exhibits, and the inside exhibits include an astronaut gallery (and NASA equipment) and literally thousands of photographs. |
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| University of New Mexico Art Museum
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| Albuquerque |
505-277-4001 |
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You'll find no larger collection of art in New Mexico than here, and it's vast and varied and gorgeous. As only fits a university museum, you can also attend lectures and gallery talks, even a symposium or so. |
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Ghost Towns - Click here to move.
| Shakespeare Ghost Town
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| Outside Lordsburg |
505-542-9034 |
$3-5 |
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Shakespeare was a town of the Old West as few towns were outside of the movies. Once, it had over 15 saloons and every one of them seemed to be a site for brawls and shoot-outs at least once, but the railroad killed Shakespeare, and only its buildings remain. It's a large ghost town and you'll be able to do plenty of exploring. Check it out during a reenactment if you can. |
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Historical Sites - Click here to move.
| Taos Pueblo
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| Near Taos |
505-758-1028 |
Adults: $10
Students: $5 |
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Taos Pueblo was built over a thousand years ago, before Columbus, before the end of the Dark Ages, before the western world knew the American continents even existed. Taos has been continually inhabited for the past millennium and about 150 people live in the Pueblo community year-round. Taos Pueblo is open to visitors for tours, arts and traditional crafts. |
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| Dowlin's Historic Old Mill Ruidoso
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| Ruidoso |
505-257-2811 |
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They say that Billy the Kid once hid here in a flour barrel, but whether that's true or not, this was definitely one of his haunts. He was a family friend of the Dowlin and Lesnet families, and Annie Lesnet is said to be the one who stuffed Kid in the flour barrel. The mill was renovated in the 1950's and is one of the few remaining working water mills in the southwest. |
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| Fort Stanton
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| Ruidoso |
505-258-1833 |
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Built in 1855 to protect local settlements from Apache raids, Fort Stanton stands today just as it has since the 19th century. Maintained by local citizens and history enthusiasts, the Fort has been home to Kit Carson, Bill the Kid, John "Black Jack" Pershing and hundreds of others bringing law to a wild frontier. |
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| Fuller Lodge
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| Los Alamos |
505-662-9331 |
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Established in 1920 as a boarding school for young boys and modeled after the Boy Scouts of America, the Los Alamos Ranch School educated such famous icons as William Burroughs and Gore Vidal. The school was purchased by the Federal Government in 1942 and housed engineers working on the Manhattan Project. Today Fuller Lodge is used as an art gallery. |
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| Aztec Ruins National Monument
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| Aztec |
505-334-6174 |
Free-$5 |
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Around 1100 A.D. ancestral Pueblo people embarked on an ambitious building project along the Animas River in northwestern New Mexico. In less than three decades they built a monumental “great house.” Aztec West stands three-stories high, stretches longer than a football field and once had as many as 500-rooms including a ceremonial “great kiva” over 40-feet in diameter. |
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Markets, Fairs, and Festivals - Click here to move.
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
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| Albuquerque |
505-821-1000 |
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Largest of its kind in the world, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is an annual exposition and race for hot air balloons, attracting spectators and participants from across the globe. |
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Monuments & Notable Buildings - Click here to move.
| The Loretto Chapel
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| Santa Fe |
505-982-0092 |
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The Loretto Chapel is popular for weddings, but if you're not planning one at the moment, visit anyway. Loretto Chapel is famous for a completely different reason: the Miraculous Staircase. Subject of articles, TV specials, even movies, the Miraculous Staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. It's also built entirely without nails . . . just wooden pegs. This, and the fascinating story behind it's construction, is what makes Loretto Chapel famous. |
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| El Malpais National Monument
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| South of Grants |
505-783-4774 |
Free |
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El Malpais means the badlands but this volcanic area holds many surprises. Lava flows, cinder cones, pressure ridges and complex lava tubes dominate the landscape. A closer look reveals high desert environments where animals and plants thrive. Prehistoric ruins, ancient cairns, rock structures, and homesteads remind us of past times. Visitors need to be prepared for exploring this rugged place. |
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| Santa Fe Southern Railway
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| Santa Fe |
505-989-8600 |
Varies |
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Take a trip from the old Santa Fe Depot to the village of Lamy and back in vintage railroad cars. If you ride on the weekends, you can have a ride-and-eat experience, either with barbecue or cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. |
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Museums - Click here to move.
| Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum
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| Tucumcari |
505-461-3466 |
$3-6 |
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You'll find plenty of fossils here, of dinosaur skeletons, eggs, and footprints. But you'll also find a rather extensive array of dinosaur-related art, not only paintings, but the largest collection of bronze dinosaur sculptures in the world. |
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| Tucumcari Historical Museum
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| Tucumcari |
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$0.50-2 |
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You'll find plenty of museums with slick, static exhibits that depict this or that historical event with well-prepared dioramas. The Tucumcari Historical Museum is unique . . . it's a bit more like an attic of lots and lots of cool stuff you can sift through for hours, from ancient Native American artifacts to bootleg stills to . . . interesting cow-patties! |
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| Harwood Museum of Art
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| Taos |
505-758-9826 |
$5 |
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Taos is very much a community of artists and the Harwood Museum of Art is very representative of its past and present. The Harwood Museum was an art colony of sorts and today hosts a range of pieces from the well-known local artists, a host of photographs of how the city was once, and a collection of Hispanic artwork, including the famous Barela sculptures. |
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| Museum of New Mexico
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| Santa Fe |
505-476-5072 |
Free - $18 |
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This is four museums in one and three of them are largely concentrated on art . . . and between them, they host thousands and thousands of pieces. One of them is the largest collection of folk art in the world. The last museum is the Palace of the Governors, which predates America itself. |
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| Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
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| Santa Fe |
505-946-1000 |
Free - $8 |
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It's likely you've seen artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe, or at least prints of it. Like Norman Rockwell and Picasso, she's a household name of twentieth century art. This massive museum is, by far, the largest collection of her work. |
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| International UFO Museum and Research Center
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| Roswell |
505-625-9495 |
$2-5 |
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How can a visit to Roswell be complete without a tour of the International UFO Museum? UFOs are what Roswell is famous for and this museum is a full exploration of UFO sightings and possibly alien phenomena. If you can visit during Roswell's UFO Festival, do! |
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| Bradbury Science Museum
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| Los Alamos |
505-667-4444 |
Free |
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The Bradbury Science Museum focuses on a very particular kind of science . . . the science of the atomic age, the science of the Manhattan Project. You'll see the history of the atomic bomb and a good number of bomb and missile artifacts. |
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| Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art and Culture
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| Las Cruces |
505-541-2137 |
Free |
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See contemporary art, often in the context of lectures and demonstrations. The exhibits change frequently and are very diverse, so be sure to attend more than once. You may also want to explore the Studio Program's classes. |
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| New Mexico Mining Museum
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| Grants |
505-287-4802 |
$2-3 |
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This isn't only New Mexico's Mining Museum (as the name would attest), but the "only uranium mining museum in the world." Ride down the shaft in a miner's "cage" and explore "Section 26," a replica of mines as they were and often still are. |
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| Red Rock State Park Museum
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| Gallup |
505-863-1337 |
$0.50-1 |
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Aspects of many local Native American cultures are displayed and interpreted here. See both artifacts and contemporary art and if you can swing by during the Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial, do! |
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| Farmington Museum at Gateway Park
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| Farmington |
505-599-1174 |
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Whether you'd like to observe animals in their natural, riverside habitat, walk beside antique tractors, explore Farmington's history . . . or let the kids loose on exhibits designed just for them, this is your museum. The Farmington Museum at Gateway Park is four museums in one and has plenty for everyone to do. |
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| Sacramento Mountains Historical Society and Pioneer Village
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| Cloudcroft |
505-682-2932 |
Free |
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Visit a reconstructed Pioneer Museum, carefully rendered as it would have been historically, then explore the history of Cloudcroft through a series of exhibits. Stop by the chapel while you're here . . . and if you have a special event to plan in Cloudcroft, the chapel is a very scenic place to situate it. |
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| Herzstein Memorial Museum
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| Clayton |
505-374-2977 |
Free |
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Once a church, this historical building is also where a number of historical artifacts reside. Admission is free, so browse the displays, from stained glass windows to guitars to saddles, as often as you like. |
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| Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village
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| Aztec |
505-334-9829 |
$1-3 |
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Walk through a reconstructed pioneer village and explore the kinds of implements that early farmers used in the Aztec soil. Examine mineral exhibits and an oilfield exhibit illustrating the rigs and equipment used in the San Juan Basin, save for oil instead of crops. |
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| New Mexico Museum of Space History and Tombaugh Planetarium
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| Alameda |
505-437-2840 |
$2-7 |
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The New Mexico Museum of Space History is many small museums in one, in a sense. Look at exhibits that describe the history of space, catch a show in the Tombaugh planetarium and IMAX, walk through the Astronaut Memorial Garden . . . you could literally spend all day here. |
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| The Toy Train Depot Museum
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| Alameda |
505-437-2855 |
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The Toy Train Depot Museum houses the smallest working train on earth, and, of course, you can ride it! The train takes a trip around Alameda Park every half hour, but this isn't everything to see here. Check out the hundreds of model trains. |
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| Old Mill Museum
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| Cimarron |
505-376-2913 |
$1-2 |
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This old mill once put out 300 barrels a day, but it's not a modern mill, not even a twentieth century one. The Old Mill Museum has stood since the 1860s and it stands today, housing many artifacts of the past. |
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| Las Vegas Museum
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| Las Vegas |
505-454-1401 ext 283 |
Free |
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Las Vegas was a stop along the Santa Fe trail, and its history reflects that, and this museum reflects its history. Explore exhibits and artifacts of the Santa Fe trail and the famous Rough Riders, that volunteer regiment in the Spanish-American War. |
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| Old Lincoln County Courthouse Museum
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| Lincoln |
505-653-4372 |
Free - $6 |
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Billy the Kid made his escape from this courthouse and, in a sense, he left his footprints. This State Monument is definitely worth a walk-through, for Billy wasn't the only one that left his footprints here. Lincoln is a quiet town, but it didn't use to be. |
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| Route 66 Auto Museum
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| Santa Rosa |
505-472-1966 |
$5 |
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Route 66 may have been replaced by fast-paced freeways for transportational ease, but it's still a part of our culture. This museum displays vintage cars from the Route's day, as well as memorabilia. |
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Sports & Recreation - Click here to move.
| Sunray Park and Casino
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| Farmington |
505-566-1200 |
Varies |
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Sunray Park and Casino isn't only a place to gamble, although gambling is certainly one of its big draws. Check out a horse race, or some weekend musical entertainment. You can get some great food here as well. |
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| Aztec Speedway
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| Aztec |
505-334-2023 |
$5-10 |
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Drop in in the middle of the season and see a number of different racing competitions or wait for the grand finale. This is a great track with great racers and if you like hot asphalt and the rev of engines, this is where you want to be. |
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State Parks - Click here to move.
| Brantley Lake State Park
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| 12 miles north of Carlsbad |
575-457-2384 |
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Wrapped around New Mexico's southernmost lake, Brantley Lake State Park is a bright patch of desert greenery. Visit the visitor center for information on the rich history of the area and the Old West town buried beneath the lake, Seven Rivers. |
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Unclassified - Other - Click here to move.
Zoos / Game Parks - Click here to move.
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Activities and Attractions |
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There's a lot going on in New Mexico. Fortunately we've narrowed things down to help you. Click "Show" on the left to get started with a category, the information will show up here. Or read on to learn more about the culture of New Mexico.
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Land of Enchantment |
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 New Mexico's culture is rooted in a long and turbulent history of tribal conflict, colonial oppression and a unique confluence of Native American, Mexican and American pioneer societies. No other state has the kind of balance and integration among so many different groups of people that New Mexico flourishes under today. In the same way that the diverse cultures across the country contribute to the unique American character, New Mexico has created its own rich and distinct culture out of its vibrant past.
  This state is alive with its history because its past has such a constant influence and presence in how residents live their daily lives. Visitors experience this immediately in any restaurant, art gallery or town square. Ghost Towns litter the landscape and the state's many pueblos and reservations speak to the fact that New Mexico was once the site of the largest pre-colonial civilization in North America.
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Major Cultural Centers |
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Most often you will find Santa Fe as the icon of cultural New Mexico. Here artisans from around the state and region come to show their work in the large markets and fairs that abound in the historic city center area.
 Venturing out into the less traveled areas you will find where the art is created and inspired. The Santa Fe and Taos areas in the North Central region are surrounded by pueblos and art villages, with scenic drives between locations that are as unique as the people living here.
North West New Mexico is home to a large portion of the Navajo Nation as well as several pueblos such as the Zuni and Acoma. The Zuni trace their lineage to the Anasazi people who built the great Chaco Canyon, once the site of the largest buildings in North America and now an often studied example of rapid civilzation collapse.
North East New Mexico was a hotbed for movie studios in the days of the classic western, and in places like Las Vegas you can still see over 900 recognizable buildings from a time when the west was rugged and romantic.
Throughout New Mexico, from Silver City to Roswell on up through Albuquerque you will find cuisine that mixes Spanish and Native American styles, petroglyphs in seemingly unlikely places and an almost omnipresent sensation of independent creativity and expression.
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