We did a few stops in New Mexico on our way out to Telluride - I wasn't totally sure what to do or where to go and probably would have planned the trip a little differently. Anyways, here's what we did, where we went, and my suggestions for your trip!
Las Cruces, White Sands, and Lincoln National Forest
So this is the part of the trip in which my planning was a little poor - definitely should have looked into how spread out everything is and travel distances. We wanted to go to White Sands, so I booked an Airbnb right outside of Las Cruces. The Airbnb was honestly adorable and one of my favorite things about the trip. We were technically staying in Mesilla which is a small town right outside of Las Cruces. Our Airbnb was on a pecan farm and pretty close to the downtown square of Mesilla. I liked being in this area because we weren't going out a lot or anything and didn't need to be in the center of downtown. This was a super peaceful place to stay and I liked it because I felt like it was more immersed in the local culture.
Downtown Mesilla is a cute place to walk around and there are a lot of shops and stuff there. We were on a little more of a budget on this leg of the trip so we only ate out once and just made the rest of our meals in the kitchen at our Airbnb. We went to Peppers New Mexican Cafe & Bar in downtown Mesilla which was a really cool restaurant. It was located in an old mansion that was allegedly haunted. The restaurant was beautiful and had a lot of historic significance. I had vegan fajitas which were super good!
The first day we were in New Mexico we visited White Sands National Park. The park was beautiful and totally unlike anything I have ever seen before. We spent a few hours walking around. I really enjoyed the park and I think it is definitely worth seeing in New Mexico. I would only factor in a half day to a full day for this park. While it is really pretty to see, there isn't a lot of hiking or anything to do there. A lot of the trails are essentially just climbing around the dunes rather that hiking on trails. White Sands is only about an hour long drive from Las Cruces/ Mesilla so I would definitely recommend staying in that area as there isn't much around White Sands.
We spent our third day in Las Cruces exploring the area - there are a lot of hiking trails and parks right inside Las Cruces. We went to the Dripping Springs Natural Area in the mountains along Las Cruces. The hike we did here was pretty short. We went and saw La Cueva which was really cool. The scenery here was incredible and I would definitely recommend setting aside a day to explore here.
We also went to the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park. This one was interesting to see but probably not on my must-do list. There are two trails that loop around the park but other than that not a ton to do. We spent that afternoon in downtown Las Cruces. Las Cruces we later found out is actually the second biggest city in New Mexico and the home of New Mexico State University. I was glad we went and checked it out but there wasn't a ton going on down there. We went to Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery and really enjoyed it! They have a good Bloody Mary.
One of the places that we definitely wanted to hit on our trip was Lincoln National Forest. We didn't realize how huge this park was and that it was about a two hour drive from where we were staying. We went to the Cloudcroft area and did a few trails around there. This park is beautiful! Once we got into the forest area, we learned that there were actually tons of restaurants and hostels and other businesses within the park. We found all the trails that we hiked on Alltrails, which I would definitely recommend downloading. I would say Lincoln National Forest is a must do in New Mexico and would have liked to have spent another day or two there.
Santa Fe
We did a one day/ one night stop in Santa Fe to break up the drive to Telluride. This is a pretty cool city with a big arts scene. The city itself is adorable and has tons of shops and art galleries so its fun to walk around. We went to the New Mexico Museum of Art and would definitely recommend it because it had a big really nice collection. Some of the other spots we enjoyed were Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery and Second Street Brewery. Desert Dogs is right downtown and has a nice rooftop balcony. I had a cider flight all of which were super good. My favorite was the ginger cider. Second Street Brewery is in the Rail Arts District. This area is cool and I would have liked to have some more time to explore it. We also went to Iconik Coffee Roasters which had good coffee and a really cool atmosphere. We stayed at the Lamplighter Inn which was like five minutes from downtown - it was really nice for the price!
My Recs
Overall, I really enjoyed our time in New Mexico but I would have down a few things differently. We should have stayed two nights in Las Cruces/ Mesilla which would have given us time to explore the town and parks in Las Cruces as well as White Sands. I would set aside more time to see Lincoln National Forest and would probably stay in Cloudcroft or another area of the Park rather than driving in from Las Cruces. I also wish I had factored in more time for Santa Fe. There is a lot to do in that area like hiking and hot springs!
If you are planning a trip to New Mexico then I hope this helps! And if not, then maybe you should be!
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