ABQ to Cimarron, NM

We will be flying into ABQ in July, spending the night and driving to Cimarron, NM the following day. Google maps has us taking 25/84/85 through Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Wagon Mound on the way. Looks like a 3 hour drive and we do not have to be in Cimarron until about 4pm. Any suggestions for interesting stops along the way? We have 2 kids (8 and 12) and really like natural sights/hiking, etc. We are not really museum people unless it is something really different.

Thanks!!

ABQ to Cimarron, NM

I%26#39;d take the kids to the zoo, aquarium, and biopark the morning before you leave. It%26#39;s a great zoo, and if you go to the biopark, it%26#39;ll be glorious in July. www.cabq.gov/biopark/

Another option might be to take a trip up the Sandia Peak Tramway and do some hiking once you get up there. www.sandiapeak.com/

A unique museum would definitely be the folk art museum in Santa Fe. There%26#39;s also an international folk art market in July at the museum, you might check to see if that coincides with your trip. www.folkartmarket.org/

Have a wonderful trip!

ABQ to Cimarron, NM

To me, going the interstate all the way is not very interesting, but it is fast. If you have the better part of the day, I would recommend going up through Santa Fe and Taos, and taking US 64 over Palo Flechado Pass through the valley by Eagle Nest Lake and down through the canyon to Cimarron. This is a beautiful drive and one I think you would really enjoy.

I don%26#39;t know how late you%26#39;ll be flying into Albuquerque. If by mid-day, or early afternoon, you might want to head straight for our historic Old Town area (Rio Grande Exit from I-40 West). Many shops, and restaurants in former adobe haciendas, that were once expansive homes to Albuquerque%26#39;s early Spanish, and Mexican residents. Picture perfect Spanish plaza, and old church also.

You say you are not ';museum people,'; but the Albuquerque Museum on the northeast side of Old Town will give you an excellent look back through New Mexico%26#39;s ancient history, from Anasazis, through the Pueblo tribes, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American contributionsl If you skip the art (if short on time), you can take in the historical part in 45 minutes. I would visit here first!

Our adjacent NM Museum of Natural History is excellent, but then I recall you have the Field Museum in Chicago, so you may prefer to devote your time to doing New Mexico things. The zoo is a very nice one, (but again, you%26#39;re from Chicago, and I%26#39;ve heard it has a zoo also, LOL).

After Old Town, if you enjoy hiking, drive out to the foothills of Albuquerque%26#39;s 10,000+ft. Sandia Mountains. There are miles of trails east off Tramway Blvd. You might want to grab a sack of burgers (or tacos) and enjoy an evening picnic. Embudo Park, at the far eastern end of Menaul Blvd. has picnic tables, and lots of boulders and rocks to climb up, and on. My favorite ';Open Space Park,'; in Albuquerque, is Ellena Gallegos Park, (east of Tramway Blvd., just north from Academy Blvd.). Great views for seventy-five miles on clear days. You can actually see the curvature of the earth from here. Many picnic tables. You might even hear the coyotes howl at sunset.

A few miles further north on Tramway Blvd. is Tramway Road, which leads up to the base of the Sandia Tramway, the longest tramway in the world. There are restaurants at both the top and bottom, but the barbeque (steak, etc. too) ';County Line Restaurant'; at Tramway Blvd. and Tramway Road is even better. IMHO.

I%26#39;m not a big fan of the MapQuest%26#39;s etc. They almost always route you the ';fastest'; way, but perhaps not the most direct, or scenic way. Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas-Wagon Mound-Cimmaron is certainly a good example of that. North of Las Vegas, the Great Plains creep into New Mexico, and the scenery is pretty bland up to Cimarron. This is fine if you%26#39;re planning to come back the best alternate route, which would be Cimarron-Eagle Nest-Taos %26amp; Taos Pueblo-Santa Fe-Albuquerque. Enjoy your visit!

The OP is from Chicago.. I think they have a ';good'; zoo, botanic garden, aquarium and natural history museum!

Stay in Abq the first night near Old Town. See the Plaza, have some Mexican food (Little Anitas) and visit the Rattlesnake Museum if you dare!!! Kids love it and so do I!

The next morning drive to Santa Fe, see the Plaza there and maybe then drive up to Taos via the High Road. Lunch in Taos and then to Cimarron via Angel Fire and Eagles Nest. Visit the Philmont Scout Ranch headquarters (unless that is your final destination!!) or Cimarron Canyon State Park.

Cimarron has some interesting sights... www.cimarronnm.com

If you end up going up the interstate to Wagon Mound, visit Pecos Nat Mon, Ft. Union Nat Mon before you head west to Cimarron! North of Springer is a truck stop - Russells that has neat restored cars and some snacks, as well as a Subway!

Yes, the Lincoln Park zoo is beautiful, but they do not have our desert climate and plants, nor do they have nearly the array of primates that we have here at the Rio Grande Zoo. Zoos are not like Wal-Marts: if you%26#39;ve seen one you have definitely not seen them all!

ABQinfo... did not want to spark a debate, I know zoo%26#39;s are not all the same. We love visiting zoo%26#39;s all over the country. Our zoo in Abq is wonderful, especially the Zoo Concerts with the Albuquerque Symphony. I go there many times a year with family and with school field trips.

The OP wanted something different...and even though the Abq zoo is great fun, if I only had a day or less, I would see something you could not see at home, like ancient ruins, Old Town, Rattlesnake Museum, Pueblo Cultural Center, Taos Pueblo etc.

There is Storrie Lake Park not far from Las Vegas NM. There are also some great trails in the Pecos Wilderness area which is right off I-25 just north of Santa Fe. You can also take 25 then in Santa Fe catch 84/285 towards Taos and then go to Eagles Nest Lake. Also on 84 there is the Santuario de Chimayo in the town of Chimayo. Also there is a Dairy Queen just outside Santa Fe if the kiddies want an ice cream cone.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. Yes, our final destination is Philmont. We have been before but last time we flew into Denver and did the Colorado Springs sites on the way down to Cimarron. We did take a day trip to Taos that week and the drive is lovely.

I will do some research on all of your suggestions and make a plan! Thanks again!