Exploring the hidden gems throughout New Mexico would take a lifetime! There are definitely way more things to explore and more hidden gems than we have stumbled across (sometimes literally), but we have had a great time doing it!

Our time here in New Mexico is drawing to a close, and we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the things that are more off the beaten path that we have managed to see, hike, explore and just generally enjoy!

Exploring is easy!

Pick a direction, look at a map, decide what you are interested in and take off! That has been the key to our happy discoveries of various hidden gems throughout central New Mexico.

Try not to overthink it, avoid the more common areas and try to get off the beaten path. There is a whole world out there!

Some Hidden Gems

Valley of Fires

If you have been following our adventures for any length of time, you know we have been work camping lately in Valley of Fires, NM. This place is absolutely stunning. We have a great post already detailing some of the amazing lava flows, hikes and sunsets! You can check it out by clicking here!

We found this cool sign out by the entrance of the park, been past it dozens of times!

We have also managed to delve deeper into the lava. There are amazing collapsed gas pockets, lava tubes and even a really interesting area that people have used to create some really neat art!

There was a 40 foot snake made of rock, some cairns and other extremely cool things to see out there, jump on my instagram @stevenholland.nomad and check them out!

Capitan Gap and Mountain Range

We loved our adventure exploring the Capitan Gap and Mountain Range. This was where Smokey Bear was rescued after a forest fire and eventually became the living emodiment of the advertising campaign. We actually wrote about in our post about Capitan, you can read that and see all of the picures by clicking here!

However, we did not post all of our great pictures, and had an amazing time getting a little off the beaten path.

Exploring Lincoln, NM

For those that were not avid fans of the American West and a little bit of history buffs – the town of Lincoln, NM was the epicenter of some pretty epic history.

Lincoln, NM is the location that the Lincoln Land War began and gave the Regulators and eventually Billy the Kid to American history. We had the opportunity to go visit the site and Lincoln Historic Site that makes up most of the town!

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

This was an amazing location for exploring! You can enjoy our previous post about it by clicking here! We loved our time there. So much ancient history, natural beauty and great examples of ancient native American artwork. Three Rivers Pertroglyph Site is a must see if you are anywhere within 100 miles!

While we showed off a lot of pictures in the original post, there was so much to see and experience we have even more to show!

Exploring Alamogordo

There is quite a bit to see and do in Alamogordo. The New Mexico Museum of Space History was amazing – check out our previous post here. There is a Tiny Train Museum, the oldest Zoo west of the Mississippi (had to have something for train travellers to do while the train took on coal and water!) a lot of camping, and of course White Sands National Park.

The Hidden Gem of Bosque Del Apache

Bosque Del Apache is a National Wildlife Refuge. It is a great place to explore. For thousands of the years, the Rio Grande would flood in the spring and again late in the summer. This provided a refuge for tens of thousands of migrating herons, geese, ducks and other bird species. It also irrigated the flood plain causing plants to grow that even more species fed upon during their migration.

Man tamed the wild Rio Grande and built houses and industry up and down the river. The flood plains ceased to exist. Now, th Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge recreates the flood plains through a series of flood gates manually operated. The wild life has returned as the natural cycle resumed.

Not hidden, but worth exploring, Roswell, NM

Roswell is more than plastic aliens, but if you go there you have to indulge just a little. Then check out all of the other offerings like the Wild West Museum, Bottomless Lakes State Park and countless small shops.

Exploring…FOOD!

If you have read any of our post, or been following for long, you know we can not resist good food. Or even trying to find good food. So much of it has made it into the posts already mentioned, but I would like to highlight one item that was interesting as well as delicious.

San Antonio NM has a few great restaurants, the two we want to highlight are the Buckhorn Tavern and The Owl Bar and Cafe. They both claim to have created the Hatch Green Chili Cheeseburger. That is where the similarities end.

The Owl Bar and Cafe has a biker bar feel, with a touch of old school diner and memorabilia. The Hatch Green Chili Cheeseburger is very good. It also has a touch of history that pervades the place. There are even signs that allude to the reason they invented the burger was the scientist that were working on the first atom bomb asked for a food menu since that was one of the few places they could visit! The bar itself comes from the 5 room hotel that Conrad Hilton grew up in!

Buckhorn Tavern also claims to have invented the Hatch Green Chili Cheeseburger and is almost directly across the street! It has a ‘burger joint’ feel. Several delicious burgers on the menu and some great beers. The major claim to fame (and why I had to go there and try it) their Hatch Green Chili Cheeseburger beat Bobby Flay! Yeah, right?

Some much more exploring to do!

This was just some exploring for some off the path type of places in a small portion of New Mexico. There are so many more places in this state alone to see and experience! We can not wait to get to more locations and see more things (and eat more food!). What are some of your personal favorite roads less travelled locatinos? Let us know in the comments!