Spring trip to New Mexico?

[ILBill]

Hi all!

My wife an I bought a 29 foot Durango 5'er this past summer (woo hoo!)and are thinking about a trip to New Mexico this coming spring.
Neither of us have been to New Mexico before so we are starting from scratch.
We are thinking of 7 to 10 days in the Santa Fe/Taos area but really know nothing about the area other than pics on the interweb.
We prefer COE/National Forest/State Park campgrounds rather than commercial KOA types and also prefer forests to desert but do want to keep an open mind.

For those of you with experience in New Mexico is this the area you would choose as first timers?

How is the weather in April or May? Are those crowded times?

Which national forest/state park campgrounds did you enjoy most?

What do you think are the must see and must do things in the area?

We really appreciate your thoughts and time! Thank you.

Bill and Leslie

[Dick_B]

I always recommend doing a Google search for `_______ tourism' and put the city, state, or area in the blank space and read what the specialists recommend.

[ILBill]

Wow! This is awesome feedback and just what I needed. Thank you all for the help. I'll take this and start doing the research to build a route and itinerary.

Thank you all!

Bill

[profdant139]

This post may be of some help:

NM Blog post

Don't miss Bandelier National Monument, and enjoy the food in New Mexico -- it is fantastic.

[ppine]

I really like New Mexico a lot and used to travel to work there. I tried to move there once but we lost some mining contracts and it never happened.

The southern Rockies warm up earlier than the north, but they are at really high elevations. The spring is a great time for being at 7,000 feet or out in the desert, but too early for the mountains unless you bring your skis.

[agesilaus]

Actually we've been to the grasslands and were quite impressed. Well worth a visit. As for how much time we've spent in NM: We've spent a week in Silver City and a 3 or 4 days in Carlsbad. The same in Grants, Taos, Roswell and Bloomfield. Spent more days than we wanted to in Moriarty waiting for a truck part.

We've been to White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Capulin, the lost Catwalk, Bottomless Lake and Gila Cliffs multiple times. Been to Bandara, El Malpais, Chaco Culture, Taos Pueblo, the radio telescopes in near Soccorro, Rockhounds, City of Rocks and Bandelier. Plus others that don't pop to mind.

But we are just visitors and will never know the state like you do as a long time resident. Just like visitors to Florida don't know the state as well as we do.

[timandsusan]

I have been going to NM since I was 3--about 68 years ago. I don't remember much from the earlier trips to Los Alamos, Santa Fe, etc but I do remember the later ones. We still go to Santa Fe every summer--usually twice and always find something new to do. In 2018 it was Canyon Road art galleries. Next year it will be the botanical gardens and probably more. Also great food. One suggestion is not to try and drive to everything--that can eat up a lot of time and $$. After a few summers in NM, then head to Utah--5 National Parks will keep you busy.

[NMDriver2]

agesilaus wrote:
Well Turret Driver, eastern NM was known as the "Journey of the Dead Man" Jornada del Muerto, wasn't it back in the 1800's

No The Jornada is in the middle of the state. The Jornada is from Las Cruces up toward Socorro, east of the Rio Grande and west of the Oscura and San Andreas mountains. Socorro means relief, help, or succor because that is where the Jornada ended. Wiki link

As a matter of fact the eastern part of the state was open to homesteaders (my grandfather in 1900 for one) and was/is cattle and farm country. Today there are oil and gas wells in the south east and vast grass lands (Rita Blanca and Cibola Nat Grasslands are worth a visit) in the north east.

[frizzen]

In April or May you may want to be low and south. Three Rivers campground south of Carizozo is nice if you like hiking. It's about 14 miles off US 54. The petroglyph site is nice and its not far from Valley of Fire SP. White Sands and Alamogordo are close.

East of Ruidoso on 380 is Capitan with the Smokey the Bear home and Lincoln. There are campgrounds in that area.

[agesilaus]

Well Turret Driver, eastern NM was known as the "Journey of the Dead Man" Jornada del Muerto, wasn't it back in the 1800's

[Hobo_X_2]

Like eubank said, some forest campgrounds may still be closed at that time of year. The national forest websites post opening dates. If you get time check out Capulin Volcano Nat Monument, and Fort Union, right off of I25.
North of Las Vegas NM there is Storrie Lake State Park.
Bandelier National Monument, has a nice campground. From there make a day trip to Los Alamos and visit the Bradbury Science Museum, https://www.lanl.gov/museum/ free admission!
Check out the Sacramento Mountains in central NM. Ruiodoso, Cloudcroft, WhiteSands Nat Monument. There are lots of trees in the central mountains. For fun go to the UFO museum in Roswell, and don't forget Carlsbad Caverns. West of Carrizozo is Valley of Fires Recreation Area. All these can be found on the web.
Full hookup NM state parks are $14.
April can be very windy in New Mexico.

[NMDriver2]

agesilaus wrote:
Well New Mexico isn't prime territory for woods and streams. You'll mainly find those in the far northeast, north of Los Alamos, and in the southwest parts of the state around the mountains. That would be north of Silver City. Colorado would be better for that landscape but you'll find some in NM. Gila Cliffs is about the only Federal Park that I can think of in the area but there are lots of FS and BLM lands. Lots of Indian reservations too which won't be camping friendly probably unless they have a commercial CG.

Lots of parks in NM but mainly they are Indian Ruin parks in the desert or wildlife refuges also in the desert. There are some astronomical observatories too. You'll find some wooded park land in the two areas I mention and the top of some mountains.

How long do you plan to stay. My favorite wooded park was obliterated by a flash flood and since it was a historical structure cannot be rebuilt (the Catwalk)

You don't live in or visit here much do you?

About Half way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe you will find Cochiti Lake COE campground on the Rio Grande. The weather in Apr and May should be fine. Near by is Bandalier, Tent Rocks, Jemez Mountains, and the Santa Fe National Forest. The Railrunner train into downtown Santa Fe stops near the Santa Domingo Pueblo although driving is faster. Albu and Santa Fe are both about 45 min drive. BTW the fuel station near the lake has some of the cheapest fuel around and there was Wifi at the lake a few years ago when I was last there. If you like Casinos you are close to Hollywood Casino ($20 RV park). Most of North Central NM is mountains and forests. The NE is high plains. Generally I-25 runs along the south and eastern edge of the mountains north of Albu and US 550 on the west until it crosses the Continental divide near Cuba. There are Forest service and state parks all over the area. Villanueva state park is a good one if you like trout fishing. State Parks link

I would second the drive up US 84 through Georgia O'keefe country to Chama. In fact I would extend that over to Antonito in CO and come back via US 285 to Espanola or Taos. Eagles Nest, Red River and the higher elevation towns will just be getting warm in May.

[agesilaus]

We ran into serious snow on US 64 between Terra Amarillo and Taos in July. My kids insisted I stop so they could wipe the snow off but about 2 minutes of that fixed that desire...heh. So the point is at altitude weather is what it is.

Definitely go to Taos Pueblo for a look around.

[eubank]

Basically, just look at elevation. Both Taos and Santa Fe are at around 7000 feet. Up in the mountains near them, it's much higher. Angel Fire, where I used to live, is right at 8400 feet at its lowest point. By contrast, Albuquerque is about a mile high, like Denver. Where I live now just south of Albuquerque is somewhat over 4800 feet. It makes a very big difference.

Lynn

[padredw]

We are thinking of 7 to 10 days in the Santa Fe/Taos area

First of all let me say, I think you have made a very good choice for a visit to Northern New Mexico. This is one of our favorite area in the entire country and we go back there almost every year.

I think June might be a very good time, but even late May might work out just fine.

We prefer to say in "Santa Fe Skies" which is a commercial campground. We like to have full hook ups and free WIFI, but there are some forest service campgrounds on the road up to Santa Fe Ski Basin.

You could easily spend a week in Santa Fe itself. We alway enjoy a drive on "The High Road to Taos" with stops in Chimayo, Truchas, and Trampas including visits to the weavers and the Sanctuario de Chimayo. One of our favorite restaurants is called "Rancho de Chimayo." We always try to plan a lunch stop there on the High Road.

We also enjoy the drive out to Pecos. Our restaurant out there is called "Frankie's of the Cassanova." Don't miss the green chile stew at Frankie's. While out there you can visit the Pecos National Monument and take a drive up the canyon toward Cowles and the Pecos Wilderness Area. For that matter there are several National Forest campgrounds on that drive.

We usually stay at "Taos Valley RV Park" for the same reasons listed above, but I believe there are some National Forest campgrounds on the road up to Taos Ski Basin.

There are two many sites worth a visit in both Santa Fe and Taos for me to try to include them here. The point it you have made an excellent choice for your visit to New Mexico.

I also agree with the comment about Chama, and if you go up there from Taos there will be some nice forest drives after the desert around Taos. You could also go on up to Pagosa Springs if you had another week. That is a beautiful drive from Chama up to Pagosa Springs.

If I knew your route I could probably make comments about campground along the way. We've been making that route from East Texas to Santa Fe and Taos for many years.

[ILBill]

agesilaus wrote:
Well New Mexico isn't prime territory for woods and streams. You'll mainly find those in the far northeast, north of Los Alamos, and in the southwest parts of the state around the mountains. That would be north of Silver City. Colorado would be better for that landscape but you'll find some in NM. Gila Cliffs is about the only Federal Park that I can think of in the area but there are lots of FS and BLM lands. Lots of Indian reservations too which won't be camping friendly probably unless they have a commercial CG.

Lots of parks in NM but mainly they are Indian Ruin parks in the desert or wildlife refuges also in the desert. There are some astronomical observatories too. You'll find some wooded park land in the two areas I mention and the top of some mountains.

How long do you plan to stay. My favorite wooded park was obliterated by a flash flood and since it was a historical structure cannot be rebuilt (the Catwalk)

Good info, thanks!

We have traveled Colorado quite a bit but never New Mexico or Utah, two states we want to learn and explore. I'll try to check out the southwest part of the state.

Bill