New Mexico
Places in New Mexico worth the detour, from town festivals, factory tours, and wineries, each compiled from its own sources with season, fees, and directions.
Point at a dot to see the place.Tap a dot to see the place. Road map of New Mexico.
Hot Springs
Swimming Holes
Trailheads
- Dripping Springs TrailheadLas Cruces · Natural areaA Bureau of Land Management natural area on the west face of the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces, where a short trail climbs to the ruins of a mountain hotel and a health resort.
- Malpais Nature Trailhead (Valley of Fires)Carrizozo · BLM recreation area and nature trailheadA BLM recreation area immediately adjacent to the Carrizozo Malpais lava flow, four miles west of Carrizozo, NM, on US Highway 380, with paved accessible nature trails through the lava surface, RV and tent camping, showers, an accessible Visitor Center, a Junior Ranger program, and a new Kipuka Trail.
- Spence Hot Spring TrailheadJemez Springs · TrailheadSpence Hot Spring is reached from a short hike from the parking area, located five (5) miles north of Jemez Ranger District Office. The popular Spence Hot Spring includes a small pool that accommodates a relatively low number of people.
Rockhounding
Gem Mining
Scenic Drives
- Chain of Craters Back Country BywayGrants · 33-mile backcountry bywayCounty Road 42, a 33-mile dirt byway in Cibola County, New Mexico, running past a line of more than 25 cinder cones along the west edge of El Malpais.
- Enchanted Circle Scenic BywayTaos · National forest scenic bywayAn 84-mile loop of four highways out of Taos around Wheeler Peak, New Mexico's highest mountain, past the nation's first memorial to Vietnam War veterans.
- Geronimo Trail Scenic BywayTruth or Consequences · National scenic bywayA National Scenic Byway out of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, forking west over Emory Pass and north past silver-boom towns to the forest camp at Beaverhead.
- High Road to Taos Scenic BywayChimayó · Scenic bywayThe High Road to Taos, a 105-mile state scenic byway through the Sangre de Cristo villages between Santa Fe and Ranchos de Taos, passes the healing-earth chapel at Chimayó.
- Turquoise Trail National Scenic BywayMadrid · National scenic bywayAbout 50 miles along Highway 14 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, with a view from atop Sandia Crest and the mining towns of Golden, Madrid, and Cerrillos.
Train Rides
- Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RailroadThe Cumbres & Toltec is a 64-mile, three-foot-gauge steam railroad between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, that climbs 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass and crosses the state line eleven times.
- Sky RailwaySanta Fe · Private train charters & lamy eventsEntertainment train rides departing from Santa Fe Depot. Choose your own adventure with live music, drinks & views!
Roadside Attractions
- Recycled RoadrunnerLas Cruces · Outdoor sculptureThe Recycled Roadrunner is made from materials salvaged from a long-gone City landfill; the sculpture measures 20 feet tall and 40 feet long.
- Sparky's Burgers, Barbecue & EspressoHatch · Roadside attractionHatch, New Mexico's Best Burgers, BBQ, and Espresso. Sparkys has grown to be a major roadside attraction known for their World Famous Green Chile Cheeseburger and great BBQ and live music.
- Tinkertown MuseumSandia Park · Artist-built environmentRoss Ward's miniature world, grown from a single building welcoming 943 visitors in 1983 into a world-renowned roadside attraction hosting some 25,000 visitors each season.
- World's Largest Chile PepperLas Cruces · Concrete sculpture47-foot chile pepper sculpture welcomes Scoville heat unit obsessed tourists to the Big Chile Inn.
- World's Largest Flip FlopSan Jon · Flip-flop-themed gift shopa 40-foot-long flip-flop designed to draw visitors off Interstate 40 and adjacent Route 66
- World's Largest PistachioAlamogordo · 30-foot-tall tan-and-green pistachioThe 30-foot-tall tan-and-green pistachio was built in memory of owner Timothy McGinn's father, Thomas McGinn, who died in 2007.
Lookouts & Cabins
Ghost Towns
- Shakespeare Ghost TownLordsburg · Ghost townA preserved ghost town and National Historic Site where visitors walk streets once traveled by Billy the Kid, John Ringo, Curley Bill, the Clantons, Jim Hughes and Sandy King and hear stories of the west as it really was.
- White OaksCarrizozo · Ghost townA small gold-strike town three miles north of Carrizozo with surviving historic buildings, the No Scum Allowed Saloon, the Cedarvale cemetery, and the Hoyle House open to visitors; the town was once the second-largest in New Mexico and a Billy the Kid haunt.
Bookstores
- BookworksAlbuquerque · Independent bookstoreForty-two-year locally-owned and operated independent bookstore on Albuquerque's Rio Grande; LLC-owned since 2023 by 15 members; high-quality events, local and regional authors, and community partnerships with Albuquerque Public Library Foundation and Leopold Writing Program.
- Garcia Street BooksSanta Fe · Independent bookstoreGarcia Street Books is a locally owned and operated bookshop that has been serving the Santa Fe community for over 30 years. The store is nestled in Santa Fe's east side. The building houses two long time locally owned businesses; Garcia Street Books and Downtown Subscription.
- Page 1 BooksAlbuquerquePage 1 Books is Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest locally owned and independently operated bookstore. We buy and sell used, new, and rare books of all genres.
Factory Tours
- Abiquiú Studio TourAbiquiú · Self-guided, driving studio tourA self-guided October drive to 26 artist stops around Abiquiú, New Mexico, where the volunteer fire department serves wood-oven pizza at stop 25.
- Dixon Studio TourDixon · Fall traditionA free, self-guided weekend each November in Dixon, New Mexico, when 43 studios, wineries and kitchens across the Embudo Valley open their doors, as they have since 1982.
- El Rancho de Las GolondrinasLa Cienega · Living history museumA 500-acre living history museum in the La Cienega valley south of Santa Fe, built on a Camino Real paraje and shaped by a Finn who knew Scandinavia's outdoor museums.
- El Rito Studio TourEl Rito · Artist studio tourAn open-studio weekend in the Rio Arriba County village of El Rito, begun in 1986, whose mercado fills Alumni Hall on a college campus founded in 1909.
- Española Valley Fiber Arts CenterEspañola · Non-profit art centerA weavers' nonprofit in an adobe storefront in Española, New Mexico, where a visitor with no experience can sit at a loom and finish a rag rug in about four hours.
- Glenwood Fish HatcheryGlenwood · State fish hatcheryA 1938 WPA trout hatchery a mile outside Glenwood, New Mexico, rebuilt to spawn only the Gila trout, an olive-yellow native once close to extinction.
- High Road Art TourChimayó · Open studio tour on the high road to taos scenic bywayA self-guided open-studio tour along the High Road between Santa Fe and Taos, held each September since 1998, where carvers, weavers, painters, and bakers open their own places to visitors.
- Lisboa Springs Fish HatcheryPecos · Fish hatcheryNew Mexico's oldest state fish hatchery, built in 1921 on the Lisboa Springs one mile north of Pecos, whose trout made the first stocking of Lake Katherine in 1932.
- Los Ojos Fish HatcheryLos Ojos · State fish hatcheryA New Mexico state trout hatchery begun in 1932 at Los Ojos, its stone WPA buildings set in strict symmetry beneath 120-foot cliffs.
- Mora National Fish HatcheryMora · National fish hatcheryA federal hatchery at 7,200 feet outside Mora, New Mexico, raises the threatened Gila trout in tanks painted brown to look like a riverbed.
- Paseo PotterySanta Fe · Ceramic studio and galleryA volunteer-run ceramics studio and gallery in Santa Fe's Meow Wolf neighborhood, founded as an artists' co-op in 1991, that gives away the net proceeds of its monthly Throw Downs.
- Pimentel & Sons GuitarmakersAlbuquerque · Family guitar makersA family workshop in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights where Lorenzo Pimentel's sons build guitars by hand, among them the New Mexico Sunrise, the state's official guitar since 2009.
- Red River Fish HatcheryQuesta, NM · Fish hatcheryOpen for fishing and self-guided tours, this state-run fish hatchery is less than 10-minutes from Questa. It is the largest hatchery in New Mexico producing over 1.7 million rainbow trout each year, including catchable 9 – 10-inch fish.
- Rock Lake HatcherySanta Rosa · Fish hatcheryA state fish hatchery two miles south of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, fed without pumps by a 290-foot-deep artesian spring that stays at 60 degrees year-round.
- Seven Springs Fish HatcheryJemez Springs · State fish hatcheryA state trout hatchery in the Jemez Mountains whose ponds WPA crews dug with teams and scrapers, and which has raised only Rio Grande cutthroat trout since 2002.
- Tierra WoolsChama · Workshop and galleryA weaving workshop and shop just south of Chama, New Mexico, where Rio Grande blankets come off hardwood walking looms an Austrian craftsman built for a village enterprise founded in 1983.
Flea Markets
- Behr BarnRuidoso · Indoor flea marketAn indoor flea market of more than 40 vendors on Sudderth Drive in Ruidoso, New Mexico, kept by a Texas couple who spent 63 married years wheeling and dealing.
- EXPO New Mexico Flea MarketAlbuquerque · Flea marketA weekend open-air market of about 200 vendors on Albuquerque's state fairgrounds, entered from Central Avenue beside a 1938 tower fitted with new Route 66 neon.
- Farmington Flea MarketFarmington · Flea marketA weekend flea market on East Main Street in Farmington, New Mexico, kept by local owners for more than 43 years, where tires, fresh bread and a motorcycle turn up together.
- Gallup 9th Street Flea MarketGallup · Flea marketA Saturday market on Gallup's north side, in New Mexico, where several hundred vendors sell turquoise, mutton stew, livestock, and farm tools one block off Highway 491.
- Peddlers PavilionLas Cruces · Indoor marketplace/fleamarketOver 170 Booths & Large Special Event Area Under One Roof
- The Flea at La TiendaEldorado · Flea marketThe Flea is located at La Tienda at Eldorado, just fifteen minutes from downtown Santa Fe. La Tienda is a dynamic shopping and community center filled with interesting shops, great restaurants and coffee shop and the Santa Fe Brewing Company tasting room.
U-Pick Farms
Wineries
- Arena Blanca Winery Tasting RoomAlamogordo · FarmThe tasting room of Arena Blanca Winery, inside McGinn's PistachioLand north of Alamogordo, New Mexico, where 14 acres of grapes grow beside pistachio orchards under a 30-foot pistachio.
- Balzano VineyardsCarlsbad · Winery/vineyardA family vineyard and event grounds on the Pecos River near the ghost town of Seven Rivers in Carlsbad, New Mexico, planted on an old cattle feed lot.
- Black's Smuggler WineryBosque · Small boutique wineryA family winery and tasting room in Bosque, New Mexico, named for the outlaw lore of the Ladron Mountains, where Tony Black grows Saperavi, a grape from the country of Georgia.
- Camino Real Winery & TaproomLos Lunas · Family owned and operated vineyardA family winery and taproom on four acres below Tome Hill in Los Lunas, New Mexico, whose label shows a wine caravan on the Camino Real.
- Fort Selden WineryLas Cruces · Family owned wineryA one-acre family vineyard and tasting room in Radium Springs, New Mexico, across the road from the adobe ruins of Fort Selden, whose wine is sold only on site.
- Las Nueve Niñas WineryMora · Wine/spiritsA small winery nestled in the Northern New Mexico Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Angel Fire and Mora. High country family owned and operated winery and vineyard specializing in Capulin (chokecherry wine), Rieslings and other fun wines.
- Ponderosa Valley Vineyards & WineryPonderosa · Vineyard and wineryThe largest Riesling vineyard in New Mexico, nestled in the scenic Ponderosa Valley on the southern slopes of the beautiful Jemez Mountains, a short drive from Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Los Alamos.
- Rio Grande Vineyards & WineryLas Cruces · WineryFollow the sleepy pecan orchards that pave the way down Highway 28 to Rio Grande Winery for a true taste of the southwest.
- Shattuck VineyardCaballo · Vineyard and tasting roomWelcome to Shattuck Vineyard! Our tasting room is open weekends.
- Sombra Antigua WineryChamberino · Vineyard and wineryWine, Beer, Food, Music, Friends & Fun; family vineyard on scenic Highway between El Paso and Las Cruces.
- St. Clair WineryDeming · WinerySt. Clair grapes are grown on the 200-acre Lescombes family-owned vineyard located 47 miles west of Deming, New Mexico.
- Tularosa Vineyards & WineryTularosa · WineryAward-winning heritage wines and fortified wines from Tularosa's ancient mission vines.
Fairs & Rodeos
- Catron County FairReserveCatron County's annual fair at the Reserve, New Mexico, fairgrounds: junior livestock shows and a sale, a ranch rodeo of four-person teams, and cowboy church on Sunday morning.
- Colfax County Fair & RodeoSpringer · County fairA non-profit county fair and rodeo on Airport Road in Springer, New Mexico, where junior exhibitors sold 56 animals for some $323,000 in 2026.
- De Baca County FairFort Sumner · County fairThe De Baca County Fair, held on the fairgrounds in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, closes with a Saturday-night junior livestock sale that first passed six figures in 2022.
- Grant County FairCliff · County fairThe Cliff-Gila Grant County Fair, held each late September in Cliff, New Mexico, since 1948, where 4-H and FFA livestock and a working ranch rodeo share the grounds.
- Harding County FairRoy · County fairThe Harding County Fair, held in August at the fairgrounds in Roy, New Mexico, began in September 1921 with a 200-foot exhibit tent and three days of baseball against Dawson.
- Lincoln County FairCapitan · County fairThe Lincoln County Fair in Capitan, New Mexico, a youth livestock show begun in 1953 as Achievement Day, ends each August with a Friday-night Junior Livestock Sale.
- Rodeo de Santa FeSanta Fe · Annual rodeoFour late-June nights of PRCA rodeo on Rodeo Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, held since 1949, its mascot a devil bull made by the builder of Zozobra.
- Sierra County FairTruth or Consequences · County fairThe Sierra County Fair is a free October county fair on South Broadway in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where Saturday brings cow patty bingo and the junior livestock sale.
- Union County FairClayton · County fairClayton, New Mexico's annual county fair runs four August days of youth livestock shows and Tin Barn quilts, ending with a steak dinner and the Junior Livestock Sale.
Town Festivals
- Carrizozo Community FestivalCarrizozo · Community festivalA Labor Day weekend street festival on 12th Street in Carrizozo, New Mexico, revived by a coalition of local nonprofits, where Smokey Bear leads a parade that throws no candy.
- Chama DaysChama · Multi-day community festivalChama Days fills the railroad village of Chama, New Mexico, on the second weekend of August with rodeo, a parade, and softball that runs around the clock.
- Cloudcroft Lumberjack DayCloudcroft · Sporting eventCloudcroft Lumberjack Day is a free September Saturday of axe throwing, chainsaw and crosscut-saw contests at Ski Cloudcroft, held every year since 1993.
- Corrales Harvest FestivalCorrales · Two day eventA two-day village-wide fair in Corrales, New Mexico, held the last weekend of September, that moves crowds by tractor-drawn hay wagon and elects a pet mayor by the dollar.
- Diez y Seis de Septiembre Parade and FiestaMesilla · Parade and fiestaMesilla's two-day fiesta for Mexico's independence, run by the town on its historic plaza, opens with a Saturday-morning parade down Avenida de Mesilla.
- FiestaTruth or Consequences, New Mexico · Rodeo • live music • paradeAn annual May parade, rodeo, and street festival in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, begun in 1950 when Hot Springs took a radio game show's name.
- Fiesta de Santa FeSanta Fe · Annual celebrationThe Fiesta de Santa Fe fills the Santa Fe Plaza each September with dances, parades and food booths, under a civic vow first written into city minutes in 1712.
- Fiesta de TaosTaos · Community celebrationThe Fiestas de Taos, three July days on the Taos Plaza for Santiago and Santa Ana, where a reina is crowned at Mass and the court leads marchas through town.
- Fiesta del Valle de EspañolaEspanola · Annual community eventEspañola's July fiesta on the Plaza, first held in 1933 to mark Don Juan de Oñate's 1598 arrival, and for years contested over its portrayal of him.
- Fiestas de Las VegasLas Vegas · Long-standing summer traditionA four-day Fourth of July fiesta on the Historic Plaza of Las Vegas, New Mexico, dated to 1888 and grown from a farming town's feast for water.
- Great American Duck RaceDeming · FestivalDeming, New Mexico's four-day August festival, held since 1980, in which racers coax festival-raised ducks down wet and dry lanes beside the 1910 Luna County Courthouse.
- Hatch Chile FestivalHatch · FestivalBegun in 1971, the Hatch Chile Festival fills a New Mexico farm village each Labor Day weekend with barrel roasters and forty-pound sacks of valley green chile.
- Las Fiestas de San LorenzoBernalilloCelebration of Bernalillo’s patron San Lorenzo, centered on the ritual dance drama Los Matachines, with entertainment at Rotary Park.
- Mora FiestasMoraEvery summer, the Mora Valley pauses between the hay cutting and the harvest to celebrate the feast days of Santiago y Santa Ana — with a parade, live music, good food, and the whole community on Mainstreet.
- Mountainair JubileeMountainair · JubileeMountainair's summer Jubilee, in Torrance County, New Mexico, brings fireworks at the municipal airport, a Highway 60 parade beneath a local pilots' flyover, and dancing in the square.
- Old Fort DaysFort Sumner · Arts & craft show during old fort daysOld Fort Days, a June celebration in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where racers carry 80-pound tombstones over hurdles to mark the thefts of Billy the Kid's headstone.
- Old Lincoln DaysLincoln · Three-day celebrationA three-day August festival in Lincoln, New Mexico, built around The Last Escape of Billy the Kid, a folk pageant staged by local volunteers since 1940.
- Old Timers' DayMelrose · Annual traditionThe Melrose community celebrates Old Timers' Day with great music, hometown pride, food, family fun, and memories for all ages.
- Pie Town Pie FestivalPie Town · Pie festivalA benefit festival on the second Saturday of September in Pie Town, a Catron County stop on US 60, where volunteers bake 500 pies from scratch for sale.
- Pinto Bean FiestaMoriarty · Annual harvest extravaganzaA balloon glow at Sierra Blanca Brewery, a parade, park vendors and a dance after dark.
- Pioneer DaysClovis · PRCA rodeoThe Pioneer Days PRCA Rodeo is a three-night professional rodeo held indoors in Clovis, New Mexico, by the Curry County Mounted Patrol, a fifty-member horsemen's club founded in 1939.
- Roswell UFO FestivalRoswell · FestivalThree free days each Fourth of July weekend on Main Street in Roswell, New Mexico, where a 1947 ranch-debris story drives a parade, costume contests, mariachi and a drone show.
- Spokes on 66Grants · Car showRoute 66-inspired car show packed with classic cars, custom builds, live music, vendors, and family fun
- Tucumcari Rawhide DaysTucumcari · Celebration of the old west and the filming of rawhideA three-day June festival in Tucumcari, New Mexico, for the TV western "Rawhide," filmed partly around town, whose chuckwagon cook was played by a Tucumcari native.
Old-Time Music
- Albuquerque Contra DanceAlbuquerque · Contra dancesA fourth-Sunday afternoon contra dance at the Albuquerque Square Dance Center, run by a folk society that a few musicians founded in 1983 and later renamed for dancers.
- Bluegrass & Bagels JamSanta Fe · Monthly bluegrass jamA free second-Sunday bluegrass jam in Santa Fe's Railyard Park, where players take turns calling songs around a circle, with bagels and coffee from Boultawn's.
- Lea County Fair Fiddler's ContestLovington · Fiddle contestAnnual open fiddler's contest held on the Saturday of Lea County Fair & Rodeo week in the Yucca Building in Lovington, NM, with a Friday-evening Fiddler's Jam and awards by age group, twin fiddling, and accompanist categories.
- Pickamania Acoustic Music FestivalKingston · Acoustic music festivalAn acoustic music festival on the lawn of Kingston's Black Range Lodge, held each early September, that began in the 1980s on a garlic farm along Animas Creek.
- Queen Bee Folk JamSanta Fe · Monthly jam, free and open to the publicOpen to all levels and all instruments, come jam your favorite folk tunes. Don't know a bunch of tunes? No problem, we'll bring song books to select from.
- Queen Bee Old-Time JamSanta Fe · Old-time jamLed by Eric Carlson, we'll be playing and sharing our favorite old-time fiddle tunes by ear! All instruments are welcome, but we most commonly see fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and upright bass.
- Santa Fe Contra DanceSanta Fe · Contra danceContra dance is a form of traditional American social dance with its roots in western European folk dance. The structure of contra dance is long line sets down the dance hall with your partner across from you.
- Virginia Creepers Old-Time JamAlbuquerque · Hosted open jamOpen Old-Time Jam - Hosted by the Virginia Creepers Every Monday, 7:00-9:30 p.m. at the ABQ Press Club