New Mexico Outdoors

New Mexico's nickname is Land of Enchantment and enchant it does. A New Mexico Outdoors vacation will leave you with more then just pictures but also with memories of stunning views. Though lightly populated, New Mexico reminds us of the movies of the Old West for that is what it is. Prospectors, cowboys and outlaws opened the area and lead the way for it to become the 47th state in the year 1912. Native American culture abounds here from the Ancient Ones to the modern native people selling their unique beautiful jewelry at the Santa Fe and Albuquerque markets.

Petroglyph National Monument is a place you can spend hours looking at the sometimes surprising images of people and animals carved in to the rock from long ago. Be careful of the snakes! White Sands National Monument looks completely barren but there is life there if you know where to look. A trip to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park will be very memorable. See the famous Carlsbad bats and explore some of the caves made by the remnants of a dried up sea. Climb Wheeler Peak, if you are a climber, at an elevation of 13,161 feet high and see some amazing views.http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/southwest/new-mexico/new-mexico-nature-scientific-wonders.html A wonderful piece of American history is the Taos Pueblo, which has been inhabited for 1,000 years and has been named a World Heritage Site. New Mexico's largest pueblo is Zuni Pueblo. The Zuni are known for their unique and lovely jewelry and stone carvings.

And if you are in Albuquerque in October, you will no doubt see the amazing colors in the sky as over 700 hot air balloons are released over a period of nine days at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This is United States most well known and largest hot air balloon festival. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/southwest/new-mexico/new-mexico-landmarks-points-of-interest.html?utm_source=relatedarticles&utm_medium=internallink&utm_campaign=SmithMag&utm_content=New Mexico - Landmarks and Points of Interest

National Parks, Areas and Sites

Aztec Ruins National Monument - ancestral Pueblo village once housed over 500 rooms.
Bandelier National Monument - excavated archeological sites on the floor of beautiful Frijoles Canyon.
Capulin Volcano National Monument - Capulin Volcano, a cinder cone, more than 1000 feet tall.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park - 116 of these caves, some of the largest caves in North America.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park -five major Chacoan sites.
El Camino Real de Los Tejas National Historic Trail - covers 3 states, Texas and Louisiana frontier settlement and development.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail - covers 2 states, 300 years of heritage and culture in the Southwest.
El Malpais National Monument - cairns, prehistoric ruins, and homesteads.
El Morro National Monument -2,000 signatures, dates, messages, and petroglyphs carved for hundreds of years.
Fort Union National Monument - tour the runs, take a living history tour.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument - learn about the Mogollon people who lived here over 700 years ago.
Northern Rio Grand National Heritage Area - includes information on Jicarilla Apache, 8 Pueblo tribes, and the descendants of Spanish colonists who settled in the area beginning in 1598.
Old Spanish National Historic Trail - covers 6 states.
Pecos National Historical Park - includes the ancient Pecos pueblo, Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass.
Petroglyph National Monument -volcanoes, archeological sites and an estimated 20,000 images carved into rock.
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument - once a busy Puebloan American Indian trade communities.
Santa Fe National Historic Trail - covers 5 states. Trail from Missouri to Santa Fe
White Sands National Monument - great waves of gypsum sand dunes have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world's largest gypsum dune field.http://www.nps.gov/state/NM/index.htm