New Mexico Map

The Enchanted 8 Road Trips

Summer’s arrival cues the call of the open road, high time for loading up the car and taking in as much of the state as the windshield allows. Choose a route geared toward heart-pumping adventure, or aim your tires toward culinary icons. Walk the streets of some of the nation’s oldest villages, still home to Native American communities, or ferret out the lingering neon and curios from heyday of scenic byways. These road trips through the Land of Enchantment will mandate keeping a camera, curiosity, and a sense of adventure close at hand.

New Mexico True

Rock climbing in the sun

Road Trip for True Adventure Seekers (12 stops – 533.2 Miles)

Those whose prefer their roads—and hiking trails—less traveled can cruise toward these scenic state parks, wild rivers, preserves, and mineral-stained hills. Hike through aspen groves or across the Badlands’ moonscape. Climb ladders from a canyon bottom to visit an ancient kiva near its rim. Peer into 800-foot-deep gorges in black volcanic rock carved by the Rio Grande. Make sure to refresh those tired bones with a healing soak in the hot springs.

Follow This Route

Big Jims at Big Jim Farms, in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico Magazine

Road Trip for True Agriculture Addicts (11 stops – 662.1 miles)

Chase the farm to table thread all the way back to New Mexico’s farms, wineries, and orchards. Start at the southern end of the state, where the state’s oldest vineyards, planted 400 years ago by Franciscan missionaries, still yield grapes, and New Mexico State University’s greenhouses continue to breed new varieties of chile. After tequila tasting, head to accommodations on-site at an organic farm and indulge your senses in not one but two lavender fields. Handcrafts aren’t to be left out, so include stops at local fiber arts centers and one of the sources for local yarn: an alpaca farm.

Follow This Route

Taos Pueblo

Road Trip for True Architecture Aficionados (11 stops – 369.3 miles)

New Mexico’s iconic adobe architecture has remained largely unchanged for centuries, and is showcased in this trans-state tour that adds to the historic sights with innovative, new-age structures. Marvel at the 1,000-year-old Taos Pueblo, a living Native American community and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Peek behind the curtain at Los Alamos, touring headquarters for the World War II-era secret mission to build the first nuclear weapons. Revel in mysteries and history at mission churches and chapels, and don’t miss breathtaking and airy performing arts spaces.

Follow This Route

Food, Influencers weekend

Road Trip for True Foodies (12 stops - 431.2 miles)

Taste-test remarkable culinary offerings in this wandering course through beloved locals spots and restaurants run by nationally recognized chefs. Just a glance at the menus and the promise of carne adovada, hand-rolled tamales, and sopaipillas could compel you to steer this way. Personalized takes on traditional mainstays mean no two red chiles will be the same—but that assertion should definitely be put to the test on this tour. Between meals, sip locally made apple brandy, single malt whiskey, beer, and tequila. Reluctant to leave all trace of these dishes behind? Take a cooking class to bring them back to your own kitchen.

Follow This Route

Family hiking Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness  Area

Road Trip for True Families (17 stops – 1022.4 miles)

This two-week feast of historic charms, natural wonders, and adrenalin spikes designed with families in mind packs a lot of fun alongside a little learning. Start with the cool, subterranean world of Carlsbad Caverns before getting acquainted with iconic local characters Smokey the Bear and Billy the Kid. Spend nights camped in proximity of prime territory for hunting precious minerals and under unparalleled views of the night skies.

Follow This Route

A piece of traditional native pottery

Road Trip for True Native Culture Enthusiasts (9 stops - 717 miles)

The lingering and active presence of Native tribes in New Mexico plays a key role in making this state so special. Visit their historic homes and marvel at the mysteries of architectural achievements from nearly a thousand years ago. Revel in the sandstone features considered sacred. Then find your way to the still-inhabited Pueblos where dancers keep traditions alive in the form of native foods and dances on summer evenings.

Follow This Route

apple boy

Road Trip for True Eccentrics (13 stops – 541.6 miles)

Want to get a little weird? Explore some of the Land of Enchantment’s oddities on this trip, which begins with eccentric characters and a bar that enshrines their mementos, a village in miniature and the state’s largest gift shop of curios. No tour of the state’s strangest people and places would be complete without a visit to Roswell and the UFO Museum, but nor is the ongoing sky-watching at White Sands to be missed. Roadside tourist stops worth a photo op include a roadrunner made of recycled materials, a 47-foot-long red chile pepper and a spot made world famous for its green chile cheeseburgers.

Follow This Route

Route 66 Neon Sign

Road Trip for True Rt. 66 Fanatics (14 stops - 322.3 miles)

Nat King Cole signed off on getting your kicks on Route 66—specifically naming Gallup near the Arizona border. But start instead in the east, with Tucumcari’s Route 66 Museum and timeless roadside motels and curio shop. Then head west, stopping in at historic service stations, trading posts and RV parks, and passing under the neon arches commemorating the highway on Albuquerque’s West Central Avenue. Culminate the tour at the historic and former Hollywood elites’ haunt, El Rancho Hotel.

Follow This Route

Get Your New Mexico True

Adventure Guide

Subscribe for Fresh

Vacation Ideas

New Mexico Tourism Department

New Mexico Tourism Department

491 Old Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Made by Simpleview

© 2025 New Mexico Tourism Department.

All rights reserved.