Best New Mexico Attraction (2017)

One of the most authentic steam-operated railroads in existence, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad runs for 64 miles between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito, Colorado, passing through the San Juan Mountains and the scenic Conejos Valley along the way. This moving National Historic Landmark represents one of New Mexico's most spectacular day trips.
Photo courtesy of NewMexico.org

For deep relaxation, New Mexicans and visitors head to the community of Ojo Caliente, located between Española and Taos, famous for its mineral-rich hot springs. It's one of the oldest health resorts in the U.S.; visitors have been coming for well over a century, and Pueblo Indians were taking advantage of the hot springs long before that.
Photo courtesy of Ancho. / Flickr

Hidden beneath the surface of the Chihuahuan Desert in Southeastern New Mexico lie 119 caves and caverns. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects these wonders of nature, where visitors come to gawk at larger than life formations or witness some 400,000 Brazilian free-tail bats exit the cave for their evening hunt.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo/Peter Jones

Some of New Mexico's most otherworldly scenery lies within the 60-square-mile swathe of badlands known as the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness outside of Farmington. The landscape of sandstone and shale hoodoos and other odd formations were formed from millions of years of water and wind eroding the ashy layers.
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Measuring 2.7 miles, Albuquerque's Sandia Peak Tramway is the longest aerial tramway in the world. Riders on the 20 minute trip to Sandia Peak pass above deep canyons and stunning mountain scenery of Cibola National Forest. From the 10,378-foot observation deck at the top, views extend for 11,000 square miles across the Rio Grande Valley.
Photo courtesy of NewMexico.org

Ancestral Pueblo peoples lived within cliff dwellings carved from the volcanic tuff of Bandelier National Monument from 150 CE to 1550 CE. The monument protects 33,000 acres of canyon and mesa dotted with cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. Wooden ladders give access to some of the original dwellings to see the Ancestral Pueblo village of Tsankawi from the inside.
Photo courtesy of NewMexico.org

Albuquerque was founded in 1706 in a neighborhood today known as Old Town. With its central plaza surrounded by a church and numerous historic homes and businesses, Old Town teems with hidden patios, brick paths and traditional adobe buildings housing more than 150 shops and galleries, as well as more than a dozen restaurants.
Photo courtesy of Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau

Like a visit to somewhere totally “other,” a drive through the largest pure gypsum dune field in the world (at 275 square miles) enthralls. The rolling sand hills invite such unusual recreational pursuits as sledding and, in the summer and fall, full moon programs. Five trails encourage visitors to study closely the site’s subtle, seemingly stark, ecological communities.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

Between 850 and 1250 AD, thousands of ancient Puebloans made their home within Chaco Canyon, leaving behind a series of 13 ruins. A visitors center houses a small museum on Chaco culture, and an observatory with telescopes facilitates some of the best stargazing in the American Southwest.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

The small village of Chimayo on the road between Santa Fe and Taos is home to one of New Mexico's most spiritual places, El Santuario de Chimayo. While Easter Weekend sees a pilgrimage of tens of thousands descend upon the church, the town is famous year round for its intricate weaving and fiery red chiles. 
Photo courtesy of NewMexico.org