Cloudcroft, Ruidoso, other? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Roswell: hotels, home, live)
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My family is considering 4-5 night trip in New Mexico in September. Wife, kindergarten age son, and I are looking for a fun itinerary. Most of my NM time has been spent in the northern part of the state - did Philmont many years ago, many ski trips to Taos, and the like. I thought it would be fun to take a trip to areas further south.
Right now, I've been looking at Cloudcroft and Ruidoso, as I have been to both and have fond memories of them. But that was many years ago. A loose itinerary I've been working in my mind was to stay at either Cloudcroft or Ruidoso, do some light hiking near one of those, spend a late afternoon into sunset at White Sands, find out about local history, and the like. We want to see nice views on hikes with lots of forested areas. Maybe spend the last night near Carlsbad Caverns so we can walk the caverns and see the bats that night before heading home the next morning.
Any suggestions regarding the best place to base out of? Cloudcroft and Ruidoso were the first two that popped into my head, but I'm certainly open to other options. Any other fun family activities in the area you'd suggest?
The oil boom is making certain accommodations in the oil patch (Carlsbad, Hobbs, Artesia) ridiculously expensive (and unavailable in spite of that). Make your reservations soon, and have a plan B in mind.
There's a nice melange of kid-friendly history on the road between Roswell and San Antonio NM (Billy the Kid, Smokey the Bear, Trinity the Site?).
I wouldn't expect a kindergartener to enjoy the UFO museum in Roswell (or someone of any age) but the UFO memorabilia shops can be kinda fun.
If you want to go that far, maybe check out the Jansky VLA near Magdalena. They have tours, etc. that might be fun for a kindergartener.
NM's state fair in Albuquerque is often worth seeing, during September, and not all that far out of your way.
For cheap (but good) hotels, stay away from the oil patch. I-25 has a lot of options, and I think Alamogordo ought to be reasonable too.
I'd recommend basing your activities out of Ruidoso, for no other reason than the vast array of accommodations and eateries. There is an endless array of accessible day trips of interest from there.
September is the best time of year for a visit, weather wise. The only caveat is visiting Carlsbad Caverns without an overnight stay nearer to the caverns.
If you're going to be in the southern part of the state, I recommend the Gila wilderness for nice hiking with forested, green areas. White Sands is good. Carlsbad Caverns should be good.
But, if all you've done in northern NM is skiing and Philmont, you're missing out on so much: Chaco Canyon, the High Road to Taos, Bandalier, Santa Fe.
There's more to do based out of Ruidoso than Cloudcroft, although a lot of it is history-related and may not be a kindergartner's cup of tea: Smokey's grave in Capitan, Kid country in Lincoln, Fort Stanton, the Peter Hurd gallery in San Patricio, Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso Downs (great outdoor sculptures). Plenty of hikes in and around this area and you can take the "back road," Highway 244, between Ruidoso and Cloudcroft. Order yourself a Lincoln National Forest map ahead of time. In my limited experience, September can still be monsoon season, so prepare for afternoon thunder squalls that can be rather spectacular in themselves.
Joqua is right about the variety of food and accommodations in Ruidoso!
Thanks, all, for the suggestions and comments. I appreciate it!
The main reason I was looking at staying in the southern half of the state was that I wanted to do Carlsbad Caverns. Given our relatively short trip, we decided to axe the Caverns this go-round, as the they are a bit out of the way.
We've done two trips to Santa Fe in the last three years, so I do want to stay somewhere else a little more quiet. That said, my wife recently said she really wants to go to MeowWolf one of the days...so that constrains that we stay somewhere not too terribly far away.
I haven't been to Chaco Canyon - it looks fantastic. I wish we had a bit more time to go that far! We've both been to Bandalier and really enjoyed it, so I could see going there again. Another place I enjoyed many years ago was Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. I think we could hit one of those and then have a nice woodsy hike in the mountains another day and be completely happy.
For a good woodsy hike, a shorter (approx. 3 mile round trip) easier hike near Valles Caldera in the Jemez Mtns is the East Fork trail along the Jemez River starting at the east end from the Las Conchas trailhead. See https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/n...chas-trailhead. This is one of my favorite hikes, along the river and mountain meadows with several foot bridge crossings. Just a gorgeous easier hike. Take a picnic lunch along, lots of places to stop and eat along the river. It's at over 8400-ft elevation, so the easier terrain is good for those coming from lower altitude. Not sure what elevation you live at, but the last thing you want to do on a short visit to NM is get altitude sickness.
You can also go up over the mountain at the west end of the easier portion of this trail (the East Fork trail continues for quite a ways - https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sant...75772&actid=51) to make the hike longer and more difficult. But I wouldn't recommend that if you're a lowlander.
The oil boom is making certain accommodations in the oil patch (Carlsbad, Hobbs, Artesia) ridiculously expensive (and unavailable in spite of that). Make your reservations soon, and have a plan B in mind.
There's a nice melange of kid-friendly history on the road between Roswell and San Antonio NM (Billy the Kid, Smokey the Bear, Trinity the Site?).
I wouldn't expect a kindergartener to enjoy the UFO museum in Roswell (or someone of any age) but the UFO memorabilia shops can be kinda fun.
If you want to go that far, maybe check out the Jansky VLA near Magdalena. They have tours, etc. that might be fun for a kindergartener.
NM's state fair in Albuquerque is often worth seeing, during September, and not all that far out of your way.
For cheap (but good) hotels, stay away from the oil patch. I-25 has a lot of options, and I think Alamogordo ought to be reasonable too.
hi Zoidberg, i think the Trinity site only does tours in April and October.
hi Zoidberg, i think the Trinity site only does tours in April and October.
October 6 2018, April 6 2019 are the next two.
Poster said September, but plans can change.
I'd say it's worth going once. I think I've been twice.
(singing) got a pocket full of.. trinitite..
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