New Mexico
Parks
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National Monument
Aztec Ruins
Aztec, NM
Pueblo people describe this site as part of their migration journey. Today you can follow their ancient passageways to a distant time. Explore a 900-year old ancestral Pueblo Great House of over 400 masonry rooms. Look up and see original timbers holding up the roof. Search for the fingerprints of ancient workers in the mortar. Listen for an echo of ritual drums in the reconstructed Great Kiva.
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National Monument
Bandelier
Los Alamos, NM
Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of rugged but beautiful canyon and mesa country as well as evidence of a human presence here going back over 11,000 years. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls pay tribute to the early days of a culture that still survives in the surrounding communities.
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National Monument
Capulin Volcano
Capulin, NM
Part of the 8,000 square mile Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field, Capulin Volcano showcases the volcanic geology of northeastern New Mexico. The views are spectacular day or night, with views of 4 different states from the volcanic rim and one of the darkest night skies in the country. Whether it's a quick stop or a day's trip, enjoy exploring the landscape of this unique volcano!
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National Park
Carlsbad Caverns
Carlsbad, NM
High ancient sea ledges, deep rocky canyons, flowering cactus, and desert wildlife—treasures above the ground in the Chihuahuan Desert. Hidden beneath the surface are more than 119 caves—formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone leaving behind caverns of all sizes.
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National Historical Park
Chaco Culture
Nageezi, NM
Today the massive buildings of the Ancestral Puebloan people still testify to the organizational and engineering abilities not seen anywhere else in the American Southwest. For a deeper contact with the canyon that was central to thousands of people between 850 and 1250 CE, come and explore Chaco through guided tours, hiking & biking trails, evening campfire talks, and night sky programs.
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National Historic Trail
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
NM,TX
Travel along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail to experience and learn from a complicated legacy of 300 years of conflict, cooperation, and cultural exchange between a variety of empires—European and non-European alike.
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National Monument
El Malpais
Grants, NM
The richly diverse volcanic landscape of El Malpais (el-mal-pie-EES) offers solitude, recreation, and adventure. Explore incredible geologic features such as lava flows, cinder cones, lava tube caves, and sandstone bluffs. While some may see a desolate environment, people have been adapting to and living in this extraordinary terrain for generations. Come discover the land of fire and ice!
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National Monument
El Morro
Ramah, NM
Imagine the refreshment of finding water after days of dusty travel. A reliable waterhole hidden at the base of a sandstone bluff made El Morro (the headland) a popular campsite for hundreds of years. Here, ancestral Puebloans, Spanish, and American travelers carved over 2,000 signatures, dates, messages, and petroglyphs. Make El Morro National Monument a stopping point on your travels.
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National Monument
Fort Union
Watrous, NM
Exposed to the wind, within a sweeping valley of short grass prairie, amid the swales of the Santa Fe Trail, lie the territorial-style adobe remnants of the largest 19th century military fort in the region. For forty years, 1851-1891, Fort Union functioned as an agent of political and cultural change, whether desired or not, in New Mexico and throughout the Southwest.
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National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings
Silver City, NM
For thousands of years, groups of nomads used the caves above Cliff Dweller Creek as temporary shelter. In the late 1200s, people of the agricultural Mogollon (Southern Ancestral Pueblo) culture made it a home. They built rooms, crafted pottery and raised children in the cliff dwellings for one or two generations. By approximately 1300, the Mogollon had moved on, leaving the walls behind.
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National Historical Park
Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project National Historical Park, NM,WA,TN
The Manhattan Project is one of the most transformative events of the 20th century. It ushered in the nuclear age with the development of the world’s first atomic bombs. The building of atomic weapons began in 1942 in three secret communities across the nation. As World War II waned in 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan—forever changing the world.
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National Historic Trail
Old Spanish
AZ,CA,CO,NV,NM,UT
Follow the routes of mule pack trains across the Southwest on the Old Spanish National Historic Trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California. New Mexican traders moved locally produced merchandise across what are now six states to exchange for mules and horses.
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National Historical Park
Pecos
Pecos, NM
Pecos is a cultural crossroads through which hunters and gatherers, traders, conquerors and explorers, immigrants, soldiers, ranchers and tourists passed. Walk the trails and imagine Pecos through the centuries. Explore sites where cultural demonstrations and traditional practices continue today - a living legacy of the people who passed this way. Welcome to Pecos, where past is present.
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National Monument
Petroglyph
Albuquerque, NM
Petroglyph National Monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.
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National Monument
Salinas Pueblo Missions
Mountainair, NM
Tucked away in the middle of New Mexico you’ll find Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Its three distinct sites offer a glimpse into a unique time in history—a time entrenched with cultural borrowing, conflict and struggles. These sites continue to stand as reminders of the Spanish and Pueblo peoples’ early encounters and prompt exploration of today’s interactions among different people.
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National Historic Trail
Santa Fe
CO,KS,MO,NM,OK
You can almost hear the whoops and cries of "All's set!" as trail hands hitched their oxen to freight wagons carrying cargo between western Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Follow the Santa Fe National Historic Trail through five states and you'll find adventure and evidence of past travelers who made this remarkable trip before you!
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National Preserve
Valles Caldera
Jemez Springs, NM
About 1.25 million years ago, a spectacular volcanic eruption created the 13-mile wide circular depression now known as the Valles Caldera. The preserve is known for its huge mountain meadows, abundant wildlife, and meandering streams. The area also preserves the homeland of ancestral native peoples and embraces a rich ranching history.
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National Park
White Sands
Alamogordo, NM
Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Park preserves a major portion of this unique dunefield, along with the plants and animals that live here.
By The Numbers
- 15 National Parks
- 1,460,718 Visitors to National Parks
- $106,000,000 Economic Benefit from National Park Tourism »
- $46,252,454 of Land & Water Conservation Fund Appropriated for Projects (since 1965) »
- $4,251,365 in Historic Preservation Grants (since 1969) »
- 9 Certified Local Governments »
- 43,560 Hours Donated by Volunteers »
- 1 National Heritage Area »
- 3 National Trails Administered by NPS »
- 1,186 National Register of Historic Places Listings »
- 46 National Historic Landmarks »
- 12 National Natural Landmarks »
- 3 World Heritage Sites »
- 341 Places Recorded by Heritage Documentation Programs »
- 6,475,522 Objects in National Park Museum Collections »
- 8,991 Archeological Sites in National Parks »
- 5 Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans »
- 11 Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itineraries »
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These numbers are just a sample of the National Park Service's work. Figures are for the fiscal year that ended 9/30/2020.