New Mexico Parks and Recreation Areas with Auto Touring

In 1838, the United States government forcibly removed more than 16,000 Cherokee Indian people from their homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, and sent them to Indian Territory (today known as Oklahoma). The impact to the Cherokee was devastating. Hundreds of Cherokee died during their trip west, and thousands more perished from the consequences of relocation. This tragic chapter in American and Cherokee history became known as the Trail of Tears, and culminated the implementation of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which mandated the removal of all American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the West. read more...

Phone: (505) 988-6888   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Santa Fe   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Trail   Activities: Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail

El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area was established in 1987 and is a relative newcomer to the National Park System. This monument preserves 114,277 acres of which 109,260 acres are federal and 5,017 acres are private. El Malpais means the badlands but contrary to its name this unique area holds many surprises, many of which researchers are now unraveling. Volcanic features such as lava flows, cinder cones, pressure ridges and complex lava tube systems dominate the landscape. Closer inspection reveals unique ecosystems with complex relationships. Sandstone bluffs and mesas border the eastern side, providing access to vast wilderness. read more...

Phone: 505-285-4641   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Grants   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Rock Climbing, Wildlife Watching, Camping, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: El Malpais National Monument

Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world's largest gypsum dune field. The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved a white coloration that camouflages them in the gypsum sand. read more...

Phone: (505) 679-2599   Price Range: $0 - $3   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Holloman AFB   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: White Sands National Monument

Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1821 until 1846, it was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders. In 1846, the Mexican-American War began. The Army of the West followed the Santa Fe Trail to invade New Mexico. When the Treaty of Guadalupe ended the war in 1848, the Santa Fe Trail became a national road connecting the United States to the new southwest territories. Commercial freighting along the trail continued, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. The trail was also used by stagecoach lines, thousands of gold seekers heading to the California and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In 1880 the railroad reached Santa Fe and the trail faded into history. read more...

Phone: (505) 988-6888   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Santa Fe   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Trail   Activities: Hiking, Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Santa Fe National Historic Trail

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is recognized throughout the United States of America and Los Estados Unidos de Mexico as a timeless route of trade and cultural exchange and interaction among Spaniards and other Europeans, American Indians, Mexicans, and Americans, which shaped individual lives and communities and affected settlement and development in the greater Southwest. Recognition of this route as an international historic trail will commemorate a shared cultural heritage and contribute in a meaningful way to eliminating cultural barriers and enriching the lives of people along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. read more...

Phone: 505-988-6888   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Santa Fe   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Trail   Activities: Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Mammoths, giant bison, and short-faced bears were witness to the first tremblings of the earth and firework-like explosions of molten rock thousands of feet into the air. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the rain of cooling cinders and four lava flows formed Capulin Volcano, a nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone, rising more than 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape. Although long extinct, Capulin Volcano is dramatic evidence of the volcanic processes that shaped northeastern New Mexico. read more...

Phone: (505) 278-2201   Price Range: $3 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Capulin   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Capulin Volcano