Southeast Region of New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns Lint – Yes, lint gets everywhere. And that includes hundreds of feet underground. Cleaning it from the caves is for more than just prettying the place up. Simple lint can actually kill a cave.
Norman & Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum – The small town of Clovis, New Mexico is home to big things in the history of rock and roll music. Norman Petty had Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and many others recording in his studio, and created a sound that was both distinctive and trend setting.
Christmas on the Pecos – This annual event offers river rides on tour boats to view the wonderfully decorated backyards of more than 100 homes along the Pecos.
NM True TV – Roswell Arts – Roswell is so much more than UFOs! The city has a thriving art community including the Roswell Museum & Arts Center and the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. Get a taste of the great outdoors at nearby Bottomless Lake State Park.
NM True TV – Ski Apache Biking – Beautiful Ruidoso, NM is located in the Sierra Blanca mountain range, the perfect alpine location for mountain biking for all skill levels, and the new gondola will whisk you to the top of the mountain in style!
NM True TV – Mescalero Horseback – Nestled in the Sacramento Mountains, the Inn of the Mountain Gods is the perfect place for a horseback ride through the the stunning ancestral lands of the Mescalero Apache.
Welcome to the home of larger-than-life locations and legends. This region is worthy of your whole vacation and can satisfy any appetite.
Start by spending some time at the largest petroglyph site in the Southwest – Three Rivers Petroglyph National Recreation Site claims more than 21,000 ancient symbols scribed on their rocks and we challenge you to find at least half! And speaking of large – the southeast has what’s been referred to by many as the 8th Wonder of the World – Carlsbad Caverns National Park invites you to explore some of the largest caves in the world – there are 100 known, 870-foot underground caves where the collection of stalagmites, stalactites, and Mexican freetail bats will leave you speechless. So may the world’s richest quarter-horse race in Ruidoso Downs. Also in Ruidoso is the 2nd largest ski mountain in New Mexico – Ski Apache at 12,000 feet in the Lincoln National Forest has some of the best warm-weather powder in our state. For a different take on mountains of white, be sure to travel to White Sands National Monument outside of Alamogordo, where you can hike through the largest natural reservoir of gypsum in the world – nearly 300 acres of the stuff!
While all regions would like to claim Billy the Kid as their outlaw, Lincoln County is widely known as “Billy the Kid Country.” Historic Lincoln was his home and this is where he gained the lion’s share of his notoriety. The famous Lincoln County War, a classic battle among rivalrous cattle barons, merchants and cowboys, gave Billy the chance to strut his stuff. Boy did he ever, especially during that daring escape from the Lincoln County jail where he killed two deputies. Now he rests safely underground at the Fort Sumner Military Cemetary in Fort Sumner. Check out his gravesite and then explore the Billy the Kid Museum.
Other famous legends sprung from here as well, including Smokey Bear, who lived through a devastating 1950 fire in the Lincoln National Forest to became America’s legendary icon for fire prevention. The Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan is the place to learn about forest health, forest fires, and fire ecology.
And then there’s Roswell, famous for the what is now known as the Roswell Incident, a UFO story that is most definitely out of this world. For those of you who need a little background – allegedly, a flying saucer crashed here in 1947. In addition to an annual UFO festival, Roswell hosts the International UFO Museum and Research Center where you can decide for yourself about the crash through exhibits and programs.
And perhaps because there is so much sky here, this region is home to both Alamogordo’s New Mexico Museum of Space History and the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak near Cloudcroft. In Hobbs, the sky proves all mighty for avid hang gliders and paragliders.
While soaring thousands of feet in the air may not be your thing, there’s bound to be more than enough to keep you very occupied and very happy in the southeast.
The Southeast Region of New Mexico is comprised of eight counties
Chaves County – City of Roswell, Towns of Dexter, Gagerman, and Lake Arthur
Curry County – Cities of Clovis and Texico, Villages of Grady and Melrose and the Cannon AFB
De Baca County – Village of Fort Sumner
Eddy County – Cities of Artesia and Carlsbad. Villages of Hope and Loving
Lea County – Cities of Eunice, Hobbs, Jal, and Lovington. The town of Tatum
Lincoln County – Town of Carrizozo and Villages of Capitan, Corona, Ruidoso, and Ruidoso Downs
Otero County – The City of Alamogordo, the Villages of Cloudcroft and Tularosa, and Holloman AFB
Roosevelt County – The City of Portales and the Town of Elda
Points of Interest
Chaves County
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Lincoln National Forest (part)
Ruidoso UFO Festival
Curry County
De Baca County
Fort Sumner where Legendary outlaw Billy the Kid was killed and buried.
Eddy County
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Location of the nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Within the Myst and Uru series of computer games, Eddy County is the fictional location of The Cleft, a fissure near a dormant volcano leading down to the large D’ni Cavern. This is most likely a reference to the aforementioned Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Lea County
Home to several notable people including several National Rodeo Champions, LPGA golfer Kathy Whitworth, and famous NFL Chicago Bears linebacker, Brian Urlacher.
Lincoln County
Cibola National Forest (part)
Fort Stanton – Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area
Lincoln National Forest (part)
Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino – The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing, notably the All American Futurity, the richest race in quarter horse racing
Smokey the Bear’s home
At one time was the largest county in the US. After The Lincoln County War which included Billy the Kid, the county was split up.
Otero County
Holloman AFB
Lincoln National Forest (part)
Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation
White Sands National Monument
National Solar Observatory
Roosevelt County
Grulla National Wildlife Refuge