During a previous road trip through New Mexico, I quickly realized there is so much more diverse culture and natural beauty to see. So, here is part two. Keep scrolling for details on my New Mexico and Southern Colorado road trip itinerary.
New Mexico and Southern Colorado Road Trip: Part 2
Denver, Colorado
I flew into Denver and the first stop was Meow Wolf. This was my second visit to a Meow Wolf location, the first being in Santa Fe. I’m happy to say that Denver did not disappoint after such a fun experience in Santa Fe. If you’re not familiar with Meow Wolf, it’s an interactive, immersive, trippy art venue that should be at the top of your to-do list when visiting.
Once again, I spent hours making sure I walked through every secret passageway, climbed every level, saw every room, and interacted with everything before ending at the gift shop.
Next: We drove almost 2 hours to Pueblo, where we stayed the night at a hotel. The next day, we drove 2 hours to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Great Sand Dunes National Park has the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes are great for sandboarding and sand sledding, but the park also has forests, grasslands, and wetlands. If you venture beyond the dunes, you can camp, hike, go horseback riding, biking, and more.
Next: Next was a 2-hour drive to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Hot Springs in Pagosa Springs, Colorado
As the name suggests, Pagosa Springs is known for its hot springs. By booking a stay at The Springs Resort, you’ll have 24-hour access to all soaking pools. If you’d rather stay somewhere else, you can purchase a day pass ($67 for adults), 3-day pass ($134 for adults), or 7-day pass ($268 for adults) that you can use during public hours. Public hours are 9 am-10 pm. Hot springs are the perfect way to calm yourself and relax in the middle of a multi-stop trip.
Next: In under 2 hours, we reached Mesa Verde National Park.
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park. The highlights of this park are the multiple Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings that are very well-preserved. The largest site, Cliff Palace, contains 150 rooms, 23 kivas, and housed about 100 people.
To enter Cliff Palace or another site, Balcony House, visitors are required to book a ranger-guided tour. Otherwise, you can follow the 6-mile Cliff Palace Loop Road by car. There are stops where you can get out to see those two sites from an overlook, as well as other sites.
Next: A 1.5 hour-drive took us to our first New Mexico stop, Farmington. We only stayed in the small town to sleep, but on the way you may pass Shiprock. Shiprock is a town within a Navajo reservation, but it is named after the massive volcanic rock formation that is considered sacred to the Navajo people. Climbing and hiking on Shiprock is not allowed, but it draws photographers and those interested in its cultural and spiritual significance.
From Farmington, the drive is only 30 minutes to Aztec Ruins.
Aztec Ruins National Monument
Aztec Ruins is an ancestral Pueblo settlement with ruins of large public buildings, smaller structures, and kivas, which are circular underground spaces used for ceremonial purposes. The site, called Aztec West, had over 400 rooms and 3 stories at its height. Aztec West was originally a satellite city of Chaco, until Chaco declined and Aztec West became the cultural and political center of the region.
It’s easy to walk the Aztec West Self-Guided Trail, which takes you past and even inside the structures. The visitor’s center and museum are pretty small, so the whole visit was quicker than expected, but still impressive and worth the stop.
Next: 1.5 hours to Chaco Culture National Historic Park
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco was a thriving regional center of the ancestral Pueblo people between 850 and 1250 CE. The historical park is located in the wide open land of Chaco Canyon, so there are not only historical sites to see, but also awe-inspiring natural sights. Hiking, biking, and camping are some of the activities you can do. Chaco Culture is another International Dark Sky Park, so camping there would be a magical experience.
Ruins can be found all over the landscape, including Great Houses, which contain hundreds of rooms and are multiple stories high. Pueblo Bonito is the largest of these sites. Standing in Pueblo Bonito’s open courtyards, you can imagine the buildings fully constructed and people going about their everyday lives around you.
Next: A 2-hour drive to Grants, New Mexico to sleep, then a 20-minute drive the next morning to El Malpais.
El Malpais National Monument and Acoma Sky City
El Malpais is also called the Land of Frozen Fire because its landscape includes five major lava flows and at least eight volcanic vents caused by eruptions thousands of years ago. Visitors can hike across the lava fields, but be careful because parts do get very steep and the volcanic rock is sharp! El Malpais also has sandstone cliffs where you can get a wide view of the vast landscape.
Next: From El Malpais, it’s only 30 minutes to Acoma Pueblo so we did both in one day.
Acoma Pueblo was the home of the Anaasazi people and in the 13th century, the Pueblo was founded. The best place to start your Acoma Pueblo visit is at the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum. From there, you can hop on a tour bus that takes visitors up to Sky City, which sits on top of a mesa. Some Sky City buildings date back as early as the 11th century, making it the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America.
The Native American tour guide takes you through the history of Sky City and their resistance to Spanish colonizers, leading up to the brutal Acoma Massacre. Today, about 30 people live there permanently, with the population increasing on weekends due to family members visiting and around 55,000 tourists a year visiting for the day.
Final stop: 1 hour drive to Albuquerque from Grants, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
We didn’t spend too much time in Albuquerque before flying out, but you can read about what I did in Albuquerque in a previous New Mexico blog post.
What do you think about this New Mexico and Southern Colorado road trip itinerary? Anything I missed between this one and the last one? Leave a comment and let me know!
If you liked this, check these out:
Road Tripping Through New Mexico
How to Explore Mexican Culture, Art, & History in El Paso, Texas
Backpacking in the Desert of Big Bend National Park, Texas
Harriet Tubman UGRR Byway: How to Take a Powerful Black History Road Trip
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