10 Best Things to Do in New Mexico

The House of Eternal Return is an art installation run by Meow Wolf that showcases a variety of media including sculptures, architecture, photography, video, painting, sound engineering, performances, and more. The entire place is designed to offer an interactive, immersive experience that transports visitors to new worlds of exploration and storytelling. It invites visitors to explore a mystery house with portals to entirely new magical worlds, secret passages, and a complete narrative that enchants and mesmerizes as it educates about the wonders of different art forms.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center is in Roswell, the site of an alleged UFO crash, and exists to educate the public about the incident. It is dedicated to collecting and preserving information and materials related to the Roswell incident in all forms, as well as studying and educating about other events and phenomena in UFO research (also called "UFOlogy"). It hosts guest speakers and lecturers every year and draws thousands of visitors from all over the world to an event known as the "UFOlogist Invasion." While the center's exhibits and mission are serious, it seeks to offer information in an engaging fashion that's fun for all.

The Earthships are a group of self-sufficient, off-the-grid homes made almost entirely of all-natural or recycled materials that include tires, cans, bottles, packed earth, and more. The structures make their own water, which is recycled and reused multiple times in a cycle. The structures treat their own sewage, grow their own food, and even generate their own power from the wind and sun. It doesn't get much greener with a smaller carbon footprint than one of these homes. You can take a self-guided or guided tour, or visit a gallery that educates about the structures and how they work.

The ancient Taos Pueblo is a structure that houses a community of Native American people and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the nation. The people who live here still speak their original Taos language with over 1,000 years of history and continuous occupation. About 150 people live here full time, with over 1,900 Taos people living on the lands surrounding the pueblo. Here you can learn all about pueblo life and the ancient ways of these people, some of which are still practiced today in this self-governing community surrounding the historic Blue Lake.

The Santa Rosa Blue Hole is a circular pool situated in the middle of the desert that has become a popular destination for scuba divers. It's fed by underground rivers that connect it to 6 other desert oasis lakes nestled among towering red mesas. It was once used as a national fish hatchery but later became a recreation area. Today, the Blue Hole Dive and Conference Center hosts trade shows, meetings, and conventions, while also inviting the public to swim and dive in the hole's crystal-blue depths.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a national monument that was established to protect and preserve the cliff dwellings of the Mogollon people at the headwaters of the Gila River. These unique homes were built by the Mogollon people in the 1200s, and today the site allows a glimpse into that storied past. The remains date to the 13th century through the early 14th century. The site covers 533 acres of land and was the first designated wilderness area in the nation when it was founded in 1907.

Pecos National Historical Park is a national park where you can see the remains of American Indian pueblos against the majestic backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The park allows you to explore the geography and indigenous history that have played a vital role in the rich history and traditions of the Pecos Valley. Sites like the Glorieta Pass allow you to travel through a mountain pass that people depended on for thousands of years for hunting, trade, and migration. The unspoiled wilderness allows you to reconnect with nature and get away from the stress and headaches of daily life. It's a serene, historic place to relax in natural green space and under vast blue skies.

The Musical Highway covers an eastbound stretch of the famed Route 66, and it plays "America the Beautiful" as you ride over it. The highway is designed so that instead of hearing a grating vibration noise as you drive over the rumble strips, you get a song. You need to drive in the right place, going east, and at exactly the 45-mile-an-hour speed limit if you want to hear the tune. The highway was created in 2014 and represents a partnership between the National Geographic Channel and the New Mexico Department of Transportation. It's definitely an astounding feat of engineering.

The Trinity Atomic Bomb Site marks the location of the world's first detonation of a nuclear device in 1945 as part of the Manhattan Project. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it is part of White Sands National Park. The Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce and White Sands Missile Range co-sponsor tours of the area today. Don't worry, though; the radiation is long gone, and it's totally safe.