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Chimayo%205New Mexico Tourism Dept

What’s New
• New Mexico History Museum: Exhibits trace the early history of indigenous people through 400 years of Spanish colonization, the Mexican Period, and travel and commerce on the Santa Fe Trail. Santa Fe.
•Puye Cliffs: This National Historic Landmark has reopened for tours following an eight-year closure. The ancestral home of Santa Clara Pueblo housed 1,500 people from 1100 to 1580. Santa Clara Pueblo.
• Spaceport America: Virgin Galactic’s relocated world headquarters. Construction to be completed by end-2010; flights will begin soon after. Las Cruces.

Attractions
• Billy the Kid Museum: A glimpse into the state’s most infamous son. Fort Sumner.
• White Sands National Monument: 777 square kilometres of white sand amid a dune-textured sea of luxurious gypsum. Alamogordo.
• Chaco Canyon Historic Park: A UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves the most sophisticated 12th-century Ancestral Pueblo economic and ceremonial centre in the United States.
• International UFO Museum: For believers and skeptics, find out what happened in 1947. Roswell.
• Sandia Peak Tramway: Travel to the top of the Sandia Mountains from Albuquerque by way of the world's longest aerial tram in the world.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park: One of the largest and most spectacular limestone cave complexes in the world. Carlsbad.
Gila%20Cliff%20Dwellings%202New Mexico Tourism Dept• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument: 42 Mogollon Culture cliff dwellings in five natural caves. Silver City.
• Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad: America’s longest narrow-gauge railroad. Chama.

Events
• UFO Festival (July), Roswell.
• Santa Fe Spanish Market & Fiestas (July), Santa Fe.
• Intertribal Indian Ceremonial (August), Gallup.
• Santa Fe Indian Market (August), Santa Fe.
• The Whole Enchilada Fiesta (September), Las Cruces.
• The Hatch Valley Chile Festival (September), Hatch.
• New Mexico State Fair (September), Albuquerque.
• International Balloon Fiesta (October), Albuquerque.
• Festival of the Cranes (November), near Socorro.

Places
• Pecos National Historic Park: Ruins of a thriving 14th-century Native American pueblo; Spanish Colonial mission church; and Civil War battle site.
• Bradbury Science Museum: Lab where first atomic bomb was developed; Manhattan Project archives; actual bombs, warheads, missiles.
• Old Mesilla: Mid-1800s town features unique Southwestern architecture; Civil War battle sites; haunts of Billy the Kid.
• El Rancho de las Golondrinas: Early 19th-century village where characters in period costume portray life at a colonial rancho. Santa Fe.

Hidden Gems
• New Mexico Mining Museum: Underground tunnels of a uranium mine with replica mine cage and shafts. Grants.
• New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum: Cattle farming, animals in their corrals, horseback riders wrangling a herd and dairy cows being milked. Las Cruces.
• Living Desert Zoo and Gardens: Features endangered grey wolves, foxes, badgers, deer, mountain lions and hawks. Carlsbad.
• El Santuario de Chimayo: Built by devout northern New Mexico Catholics in 1816, the adobe church has since become an international spiritual draw, known for the healing powers many visitors claim to find at the small chapel.

Fast Facts
State Motto: It Grows As It Goes
State Flower: Yucca
State Bird: Roadrunner

Region: SOUTHWEST
America’s Byways: Billy The Kid Trail, El Camino Real, Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway, Historic Route 66, Jemez Mountain Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Trail Of The Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway, Turquoise Trail.
Connecting Flights Via: Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle.
Sales Tools: New Mexico Magazine, The New Mexico Visitor’s Guide, state map, destination planner and itinerary planning
Info: New Mexico Tourism Department
1-800-733-6396 ext 751; (505) 827-7400
www.newmexico.org