TravelGuides

(TGA) - Hi, we are a family of 5 including three outdoorsy, bike-and-skateboarding-loving boys ages 13, 12 and 9. We will be driving from GA to CA in early June, spending time in NM, AZ and CA. Plan to spend about 4-5 days in NM and are not planning on visiting the ABQ and Santa Fe cities. We are an off-the-beaten path type of family who love history, a good casual meal, hiking, tent camping, biking (bringing our own), and museums and can't wait to see cliff dwellings, etc. The adult spa and store type vacation will be at some other point in our lives....
Our tentative plans are to enter NM from I-40 and want to drop down to Roswell, and REALLY want to spend time at White Sands. We’ll be tent camping most nights and would love to find a good spot to use as a base for 3 days after White Sands—Gila Forest?? We enjoy hiking and biking. Not sure where to go next after the Gila Forest area—whether it will be over to Alpine, AZ, or travel up NM and then back into AZ for Monument Valley, Chelle, Flagstaff, Sedona, etc. We do have the luxury of being able to pass back on our return trip thru 4-corners area (we have at least a month for this trip but lots of states to cover). Advice on sites and experiences not to miss are appreciated! Thanks!
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Here's some ideas for the NM and AZ portions.. Some off the beaten path places and some ideas for camping.
Arrive into NM on i40, head to Santa Rosa. Blue Hole diving center, swimming, Route 66 sites and camping at Santa Rosa Lake State Park.
From there head south to Fort Sumner where there is Bosque Redondo State Monument, Billy the Kid's Grave. Camping is at Bosque Redondo Lake.
On to Roswell. The Alien museum will take all of 1 hour or so.
Next a visit to Carlsbad Caverns Nat Park. No camping inside that park, but south into TX is Guadalupe Mtns Nat Park with camping and hiking. Also KOA in Carlsbad is nice. Play on the Pecos River at the Beach Park, visit the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Plan on at least 1 day to see the caverns and stay for the bat flight at dusk.
From Carlsbad you can head north just a bit to Artesia, then west toward Cloudcroft. You will be traveling through Lincoln National Forest, plenty of hikes, camping and biking. fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln/recreation/index.shtml . Also some observatories.
Cloudcroft is not too far into Alamogordo to see White Sands. Try to be at White Sands early in the day, less wind and heat!
Las Cruces and Old Mesilla worth a stop.
Silver City in the Gila Mountains would be a good place to visit, then on to Gila Cliff Dwellings where there is camping in the national forest near the monument.
From there since you can come back near the end of the trip for Northern AZ, I would head to Tucson visiting Tombstone along the way. Then off to San Diego.
On the return from CA, head to Grand Canyon Nat Park then to Page AZ, Monument Valley and Mesa Verde National Park in SW Colorado. You can then drop down to see Canyon de Chelly and back to I40 OR stay in southern CO to Durango, Pagosa Springs and then down to Taos NM. Plenty of hiking, camping in the mountains around Taos and Santa Fe.
Hope this helps some.
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Thank you so much for your quick reply and the great info!
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Cliff dwellings in the Gila Wilderness area of southern NM are great as are some of the little Inns and Guest Houses in the region. The Gila was the Nation's first Wilderness and it's a special place that hopefully you can plan something in.
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Also, if you go by/through Lincoln National Forest, as CasaAzul mentioned, ask a local to point you in the direction of Sitting Bull Falls down there, it's a beautiful little place to cool off, especially on a warm day!
Another area that comes to mind when traveling southern New Mexico is the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, not far from White Sands National Monument, if you're interested.
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