Southern New Mexico Road Trip Guide: 8 Detour-Worthy Adventures in 2023
Note: Southern New Mexico Road Trip is part of my Southwest USA Road Trip Series. If you’re new to the series or on a road trip anywhere between California to Texas yourself, visit the blog series intro for the full list of southwest USA destination guides.
Destination 5: Southern New Mexico Road trip
Ahh, the wild wild west of Southern New Mexico, home to 2.5 national parks and an extraterrestrial epicenter. From Tucson onwards, this generally never-changing landscape of the Chihuahuan desert was finally broken up by the beautiful scenery of the Organ mountains behind Las Cruces. Some fun things to do in Southern New Mexico were about to begin.
From Highway 10 to Highway 70, you needn’t detour far (relatively) from this southern bypass route for the best places to visit in New Mexico, United States. So in this guide, here are my 8 detour-worthy things to do for your Southern New Mexico road trip.
Related Post: Are you driving through Northern New Mexico too? Find everything to do in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and other on-the-road popular places like Four Corners Monument, ancient ruins like Bandelier National Monument, and outdoor activities at Taos Ski Valley in my Northern New Mexico guide here.
Best Things to Do on a Southern New Mexico Road Trip
The Organ Mountains near Las Cruces
As you head into Las Cruces, gaze as the highest point of the dramatically steep, angular Organ Mountains greets your entrance into this Southern New Mexico town. For how picturesque the captivating mountains were, I wish I had been able to spend more time hiking and exploring within the range. Here is a list of hiking trails to potentially enjoy from AllTrails.
Dripping Springs Natural Area Address: 15000 Dripping Springs Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88011
Bonus: If you’ve got extra time and looking for a city, El Paso is only a 50 minute ride away, driving along the Rio Grande. El Paso will be the largest city until San Antonio in Central Texas.
Detour: Truth Or Consequences Hot Springs
Seemingly a whole downtown dedicated to its hot springs, Truth or Consequences (yes, that really is the town name) boasts a number of spas, springs, bathhouses, and undeveloped spots that are said to cure your ailments. Plus, unlike the stereotype of other natural hot springs, the waters do not smell like rotten eggs, or anything at all. (List of developed bathhouses: here)
White Sands National Park
You always want to go to a white sand beach, well what about some white sand dunes? White Sands National Park’s slogan is “Like No Place Else on Earth”. With a quick Google search, I really couldn’t find another place with white sand dunes anywhere else in the world.
White Sands National Park (formally White Sands National Monument) is one of America’s most recently named National Parks, officially joining the party in 2019. Despite its relatively small size, this beautiful place left me speechless. Sitting in the Tularosa Basin, the dunes of White Sands are made of gypsum crystals which give the wonder its white color. Usual for gypsum to gather together, the basin allows for the minerals to collect into rolling dunes that are moving day by day. This creates the world’s largest gypsum dune field.
As a photographer, I couldn’t stop clicking. One afternoon turned into more than two days as I couldn’t leave without seeing another sunset.
Fun Fact: White Sands National Park is actually a small subsection of White Sands Missile Range, a military testing area operated by the United States Army.
Address: 19955 US-70, Alamogordo, NM 88310
McGinn’s PistachioLand
If you like chasing “world largest” things or love eating pistachios, I’d make a slight detour for this Route 66-like New Mexican attraction. Located near Alamogordo, the next small town after White Sands National Park, McGinn’s PistachioLand is home to the world’s largest pistachio (statue, not the nut itself). Besides giving tours of its pistachio farm behind the shopfront, it sells dozens of delicious house-made flavors. Try the Margarita Lime; so weird but so good!
Address: 7320 US-70, Alamogordo, NM 88310
International UFO Museum and Research Center Roswell
Coincidence? Before the International UFO Museum and Research Center Roswell opened in 1992, there were not many accounts of the “incident” where a flying saucer crashed near Roswell in 1947. Aka Extraterrestrials. Aka aliens.
Whether you believe it or not, this museum has blown up in popularity for displaying information on “strange incidents”. Think crop circles and mysterious abductions. And the town of Roswell really embraced itself as an extraterrestrial epicenter.
Address: 114 N Main St, Roswell, NM 88203
Other Alien-Themed Places Nearby
- McDonald’s shaped like a UFO
- Alien statues in front of restaurants, welcome signs, the senior center, murals, streetlights, and more
- Roswell UFO Spacewalk – Trippy Immersive Art Adventure
- Spaceport Roswell – “Time-shift transporter” VR attraction
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
One of America’s most unique National Parks, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is known for its insanely decorated cave system. Definitely one of the most impressive caves I’ve seen in my life; this national park is one you should add to your route…if you happen to be driving through the middle of nowhere in the American Southwest.
Three main things to do at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Explore the cavern
- See the bats fly out in Summer
- Scenic drive to see the canyon around — Not that much different than the drive to the visitor center
Carlsbad Cavern Explorer Logistics
Nearly the entirety of the things to do in Carlsbad National Park is feeling your way around the rock formations of this massive cave. From the check-in counter, you make your choice:
- Take the elevator down, explore the second flat portion only | 1.3 Miles
- Walk there through the natural entrance, but it does take double the time and is pretty steep. | 2.3 miles, first mile steep downhill from the cave mouth
You take the elevator up in both cases.
Tip: Audio guides are available for $5 in the gift shop. Would recommend.
Address: 727 Carlsbad Cavern Hwy, Carlsbad, NM 88220
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Cheating a little since this park is mostly in Texas, but being only 30 minutes away from Carlsbad Caverns, why not tack on this Guadalupe Mountains National Park as well?
I’m not gonna lie, out of the ~20 national parks I’ve been to, Guadalupe Mountains National Park was one of the least interesting. Super cool that the whole area was an underwater reef millions of years ago, but there isn’t anything iconic to look at, and all the good hikes are very long. (I didn’t sell this National Park very well, but here is an in-depth guide to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park).
Pine Springs Visitor Center Address: 400 Pine Canyon Dr, Salt Flat, TX 79847
Driving Further? West Texas Special Callout: Marfa
Well, there you have it, my list of the best things to do in Southern New Mexico. As we continue to head east into Texas, I found that this was one of the most boring stretches of road in my Southwest USA itinerary. (Although I would love to be proved wrong)
I did not find many tourist attractions in western Texas, but there is one place that deserves a special callout: Marfa, Texas. Marfa is an (inter)nationally known art hotspot cultivated by Donald Judd, a New York minimalism artist.
When you pass this town, you know something feels different compared to its neighbors. Marfa has some shockingly nice restaurants, boutique minimal clothing shops, and a ton of art galleries. Some special callouts would be the tours of Judd’s art and living spaces, Marfa Mystery Lights, and the unsuspecting Prada Store (~30 miles north of Marfa)!
For a more detailed Marfa guide, check out these 18 Best Things to Do in Marfa, Texas!
Bucket List Worthy? Southern New Mexico Road Trip Guide
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the drive through Southern New Mexico is long and boring. But there are a few things to do on your Southern New Mexico Road trip that you should add to your bucket list, which 100% made the drive worth it!
- White Sands National Park
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Marfa
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