Right up there with New York and Los Angeles, Santa Fe is the third-largest art market in the U.S. This is the street for art galleries and local Native American jewelry and pottery.
Canyon Rd.; Santa Fe, NM; www.canyonroadarts.com
Tags:culture | gallery | shop | art | specialty
Acoma Pueblo
For a better understanding of New Mexico’s Native American community, visit Sky City, where families have lived in a traditional Pueblo on a mesa high above the desert floor since the 1100s.
2 hours west of Albuquerque; Sky City, NM; www.skycity.com
Tags:family | culture | history
Chaco Canyon National Historical Park
New Mexico’s Native American Pueblo culture was born in this remote, red rock canyon 1,000 years ago. Castle-like ruins are open for self tours. Warning: there’s not much else around.
2.5 hours from AlbuquerqueNM; www.nps.gov/chcu
Tags:family | outdoors | history | nature
Carlsbad Caverns National Monument
Some of the world’s largest known caverns are here. Tour the main caverns on your own or, if you’re feeling adventurous, explore “wild” (undeveloped) caves on a ranger-guided tour.
4.5 hours south of AlbuquerqueNM; www.nps.gov/cave
Tags:family | national park | outdoors | nature
White Sands National Monument
The world’s largest concentration of gypsum dunes brings out the kid in everyone. Play in this stark-white sand that stretches to the horizon, or hike amid the mesmerizing scenery.
4 hours south of AlbuquerqueNM; 505-679-2599; www.nps.gov/whsa
Tags:family | national park | outdoors | nature
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Built by the Mogollón people in the 1200s, these ruins in the shallow caves of a lush canyon wall in southern New Mexico are worth the trip.
2 hours north of Silver CityNM; 505-536-9461; www.nps.gov/gicl
Tags:family | outdoors | history | nature
Museum Hill
Dive into New Mexico’s eclectic history at the museums of International Folk Art, Spanish Colonial Art, Indian Arts & Culture, and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian.
Sante Fe, NM; www.museumhill.org
Tags:family | culture | history | art
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
See the work of this icon at the most visited museum in the state, the first in the nation devoted to a single female artist.
217 Johnson St.; Sante Fe, NM; 505-946-1000; www.okeeffemuseum.org
Tags:family | culture | history | art | editor pick
Palace of the Governors
Visit the former state capitol, the oldest continually used public building in the country, now a historical museum. Governor Lew Wallace penned Ben Hur here.
120 Washington Ave.; Sante Fe, NM; 505-476-1140; www.palaceofthegovernors.org
Tags:family | culture | history
Loretto Staircase
Called the “miraculous staircase” because it lacks central support, this 1850s wooden, spiral wonder in the Loretto Chapel was built without glue or nails.
207 Old Santa Fe Trail; Sante Fe, NM; 505-982-0092; www.lorettochapel.com
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