[philmont] Albuquerque-Places to Go

My preference would be for outdoor attractions where the youth can stretch their legs with a bit of walking and thus get acclimated, rather than indoor attractions.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument (3 separate sites east and a bit south of the city) are well worth the visit and the walk among the ruins and kivas will take up some time and get in some exercise.

Petroglyph is ok, but you can do that on a hit and run, in about an hour. I did it in the time between checking out of my hotel and checking in at the airport, for the return flight.

Bandelier is excellent and seeing it will stretch the legs a bit. It is to the west of Taos. The road approach to the Ranch from Taos on Rt 64 through the Palo Flechado Pass is I also recommend Fort Union National Monument (ruins of the largest army post in the Soutwest and the supply depot for all the other forts). It's off the interstate between Santa Fe and the Ranch. Capulin Volcano National Monument to the east of Philmont is well worth the visit, a perfect cinder cone rising off the plain. You can hike around the rim of the caldera or walk down to the lava plug (you drive to the top, then get out and walk-you don't have to climb the mountain yourself).

Well, I seem to have migrated away from the Albuquerque area in my enthusiasm. I'll close with recommending the highway bridge over the Rio Grande gorge north of Taos. Spectacular gorge, very lofty bridge, and you can walk across it. There is also a place called something like Wild Rivers Recreation Area on the left hand side of the highway heading from Taos to Red River. Head in there for some deep canyons where the gorge of the Red River meets the Rio Grand Gorge. You can look down from the top, or walk down the trail to the confluence itself. Few go there, as far as I know, although there are campsites and scenic overlooks on the paved road going in.

Anyway, for Albuquerque, check out the Salinas Pueblo Missions NM. Or check it out now at http://www.nps.gov/sapu/

Bill Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, NJ
Philmont '70,'72, Autumn Adventure '01,'03,'05

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Received on Sun Mar 11 22:07:10 2007