Top 10 Camping Places to Go in New Mexico

Camping Gems - Places to Go in New Mexico Santa Fe The vibrant, colorful artists' community of Santa Fe has history and beauty to spare.  Begin your tour with the historic Plaza de Santa Fe that marks the end of the eight-hundred-mile Santa Fe Trail. Here you will see the La Fonda Hotel, which once served as headquarters for the Confederacy, and The Palace of the Governors, which was built in 1609-1610 by the Spanish and is the nation's oldest government building. Don't miss the St. Francis Cathedral, the San Miguel Mission, and the Santuario de Chimayo Church. Taos This city offers stunning views, historical sites, and an arts culture than rivals any in the U.S. Taos truly has something for everyone.  You can tour ancient adobe homes, wander through the world-class art galleries, ski the slopes, or enjoy a hot rock massage.  New Mexican cuisine is lively, spicy, and just the thing after a day of hiking or mountain biking. White Sands National Monument Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world's largest gypsum dune field. Enjoy hiking, photography, picnics, ranger walks, and full-moon tours. Carlsbad Caverns National Park The park contains 113 spectacular caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, creating some of the largest caves in North America. All visitors to the park should tour the main section of the cave, the Big Room self-guided tour. Guided tours of varying difficulties are also available for crawling through narrow passageways in the Hall of the White Giant or in Spider Cave. Albuquerque Biological Park This unique park includes the Albuquerque Aquarium, Rio Grande Botanic Garden, Rio Grande Zoo and Tingley Beach.  You'll see more than 1,000 animals including white tigers plus the animals of the African savanna and Amazon rain forest. (903 10th SW, 505-764-6209) Aztec Ruins National Monument At this phenomenal monument, you can follow ancient passageways to a distant time. Explore West Ruin, a center of ancestral Pueblo society that once housed over 500 masonry rooms. Look up and see original timbers holding up the roof. Search for the fingerprints of ancient workers in the stucco walls. The monument includes a self-guided trail and interpretive center. Red River A quiet town that flanks its namesake river, Red River is set on the edge of the Carson National Forest in breathtaking terrain.  The town is filled with trails, fishing and kayaking shops, and sits right beside the Red River Ski Area. In the summer you can enjoy hiking, mountain biking, fishing, golfing, and white-water rafting.  In winter, you can ski to your heart's content! Petroglyph National Monument Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including volcanos, archeological sites and an estimated 20,000 carved images. Many of the images are recognizable as animals, people, brands and crosses; others are more complex. Surveys have documented at least 15,000 pictures. Zuni Canyon Heading into Agua Fria Valley, beautiful Zuni Canyon gives you a sweeping view of the area near the historic town of Sawyer and Bluewater Lake. Always wanted to try ice fishing? Then you'll be glad to know that Bluewater holds the reputation of being the best ice fishing location in the Southwest. El Malpais National Monument 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.