Top Reasons to Go

Dazzling views, dramatic topography. An outdoors-lover's dream—mountains to volcanoes, and the Rio Grande between. Walking and biking trails abound, and you can paddle the Rio as well.

Arts, heritage & history, from ancient adobes to Route 66’s motor-court neon, from early rail days to the Manhattan Project story and Bill Gates’s first moves, flamenco to ¡Globalquerque!…and galleries and museums that cover it all.

Farm-fresh dining, piquant and traditional northern New Mexican specialties, vibrant growers' markets, and luxe B&Bs and inns.

Microbreweries (coffee and wine, too). Award-winning brews and a pub, café, or winery for every mood.

Roadways to ruins (and pueblos today). Explore nearby Petroglyph National Monument, and, a bit farther out, Acoma, Jémez, Santa Ana, and Sandia pueblos, and onward to Chaco Canyon.

Balloons, of course, and the 360 days a year of blue sky in which to enjoy them.