109 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in New Mexico - Atlas Obscura

Unusual
Attractions
in New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico

House of Eternal Return

An immersive environment that is part haunted house, part choose-your-own-adventure, and part jungle gym.

La Madera, New Mexico

Ra Paulette's Hand-Carved Caves

One man has carved a number of natural New Mexico caves into psychedelic sandstone temples.

Tularosa, New Mexico

White Sands National Park

Explore the largest pure gypsum deposit in the world, and go dune sledding while you're at it.

Bloomfield, New Mexico

Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area

The land is full of geologic eye candy like otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

Farmington, New Mexico

Bisti Badlands

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Carlsbad Caverns

Second largest cave chamber in the world, discovered in 1898 by a sixteen year old and his friend known as "pothead."

Roswell, New Mexico

International UFO Museum and Research Center

A museum dedicated to the alleged Roswell Incident.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Musical Highway

If drivers cross the rumble strip on this stretch of Route 66 at just the right speed it plays "America the Beautiful."

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Unique
Food & Drink
in New Mexico

Chocolate Daisy

This wildflower releases a cocoa fragrance each morning.

Blue Corn Mush

Adding juniper ash to this traditional Navajo dish gives it as much calcium as a glass of milk.

New Mexican Sundae

Frozen custard gets topped with green chile sauce and salty pecans to make this Las Cruces specialty.

Pueblo Bread

Baked in traditional adobe hornos, this bread is a staple of the American Southwest's Native Pueblo people.

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Atlas Obscura Trips

Santa Fe: Immersive Art and Otherworldly Landscapes

Join us in the mysterious desert landscapes that have captivated artists from Georgia O’Keeffe to Judy Chicago.

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Stories
About New Mexico

The kiva at Chaco Canyon was the site of political meetings and spiritual gatherings.

Ancient Fingerprints Help Unravel Just Who Was Making Pots at Chaco Canyon

New research shows it wasn't as gendered as once thought.

by Jonathan Carey

A page of the Navajo Treaty from the copy in the National Archives.

The Historic Treaty That Ended Navajo Imprisonment Has Been Returned

One of just two copies thought to survive is back in Navajo Nation.

by Evan Nicole Brown

Dunes on the move!

The Secret Lives of Sand Dunes

They're not actually alive, of course, but they do migrate.

by Jessica Leigh Hester

El Potrero Trading Post sells chimayó chile powder.

The Prized Pepper That Comes From a Single New Mexican Town

But can it be grown anywhere else?

Pepper plants made for a hotter holiday.

When the Christmas Plant Was a Pepper, Not a Poinsettia

Chilis were once holiday must-haves.

December 20, 2018

On the Extraterrestrial Highway, Nevada.

A Photographer’s Journey Through the Heart of UFO Country

From Area 51 to Roswell, a believer's-eye view of the desert.

Researcher Danise Coon examines some purple peppers.

Inside the World's Only Chile Pepper Research Institute

The center has spread spicy knowledge for decades.

<em>Grand View Motel, Raton, New Mexico; December 18, 1980.</em>

The Vanishing World of Neon Motel Signs

A photographer has spent decades capturing these symbols of Americana and the open road.

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New Mexico