New Mexico Regions


NORTHWEST REGION

Experience Native American Culture

Northwest New Mexico holds a wealth of Native American culture. Walk in the footsteps of the Ancestral Puebloans who lived in Chaco Canyon, now a National Historic Park featuring dramatic rock formations. Explore the Navajo Nation, as well as the Zuni, Acoma, and Laguna Pueblos, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation.


NORTH CENTRAL REGION

Northern Mountains & the Rio Grande Gorge

North to adventure and Central to everything—Bring your energy and enthusiasm to enjoy endless recreational activities, art, history, and great cuisine. This is the landscape that inspired Georgia O'Keeffe's startlingly colorful and original paintings.


NORTHEAST REGION

Where the Rockies Meet the Plains

Northeast New Mexico is "where the plains meet the mountains." Visit Capulín Volcano National Monument, an extinct volcanic cone (inactive now for 10,000 years) and you can say you saw the plains of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Still visible are the deep wagon-wheel ruts left by those frontiering souls traveling the 175-mile Santa Fe Trail from Missouri to our capital city.


CENTRAL REGION

Heart of New Mexico

New Mexico's Central Region is the "Heart of New Mexico." In almost the geographic middle of the state sits Albuquerque, our largest city and only metropolitan area. Here you can find the Kodak International Balloon Fiesta®, Sandia Peak Ski Area and North America's Longest Tramway, the ABQ BioPark, numerous museums, art galleries, performance halls, vineyards and historic Route 66.


SOUTHWEST REGION

The Headwaters of the Gila & the Rio Grande Valley

The southwest Region is Old West Country, home to many old tales told to this day. Billy the Kid was a kid for a spell in Silver City and the 13th century Mogollón Indians carved cliffside dwellings into the rock of the Gila Mountains (now called Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument); those same mountains later claimed the lives of many legendary frontier men and in 1924, were designated as the first wilderness area in the country.


SOUTHEAST REGION

Billy the Kid & Extraterrestrials

The southeast Region of New Mexico is made up of blue skies and wide-open spaces. Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands National Monument, Fort Sumner, Ruidoso, and Carlsbad Caverns are all here in the southeast part of the state.