Roswell and Bandelier National Monument #NewMexicoTrip #Day3

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The First day of our #NewMexicoTrip started with White Sands National park.

After our day spent completely in Carlsbad National Park on #Day2, we drove to Roswell and stayed there in the night. 

International UFO Museum and Research center

Roswell, as you might know, is famous as the Land of Aliens, which is a fun place to spend a half-day. As many blogs suggested as this is a must-visit, we went to the International UFO Museum and Research center. 

The museum has a lot of information and collection of facts about UFO sightings, aliens spotted at different places across the world, Voice recordings, and paper clippings of UFO sightings in Roswell, movies that were taken on this theme etc., The Entrance fee is $5. 

The museum is mostly focused on the 1947 Roswell crash and the UFO sighting event. The museum also has a gift store with souvenirs and books related to UFO.

Bottomless Lakes State Park

While we were driving Roswell from Carlsbad, we found the signs to Bitterlake National wildlife refuge and Bottomless Lakes State Park, but we couldn't stop by due to lack of time. 

I suggest that you check Bottomless Lake state park if you get time. Bottomless Lakes State Park has 9 small and deep lakes which are around 18 miles from Roswell in Pecos river valley. There are options to hike around the lake.

Downtown and Alien Stuff

The whole downtown is filled with pictures of Aliens, almost before every store. McDonald's and KFC's also changed their architecture with Space and Alien themes. 

Alien Zone (Area 51 museum) and UFO Space Walk are worth a visit if you want to take a selfie with Aliens :p

We started from Roswell to Santa Fe around noon and by the time we reached Santa Fe, the weather was pleasant. So, we decided to visit Bandelier National monument before signing off for the day.

Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier National monument protects around 33,000 acres of land with ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. This is a fun and educational place for kids to hike and learn. 

Geology

The ancient Pueblo people lived here around 1150 CE in dwellings constructed from Volcanic tuff. The cliffs of Frijoles Canyon were created from the ash of massive volcanic eruptions from the Jemez mountains. 

A million years ago, A volcano erupted spewing a lot of Volcanic ash. After the magma is emptied, it collapsed down to a circular depression called Caldera. Bandelier is located near this caldera known as Valles Caldera. After the ash is cooled, it became a soft and light rock called tuff. Ancestor pueblo people used these tuff rocks to build their dwellings. 

Hiking in Bandelier National monument with kids

I have read in multiple articles that kids will surely enjoy hiking in Bandelier. We took the 1.2-mile main ruin trail. This trail takes 45 mins to 1 hr, covering around 21 numbered stops and some of them are Big kiva, talus house, and Longhouse. 

There are some ladders to climb and see cavates (small human-made alcoves). Kids enjoyed climbing them and this trail is good and easy for kids.

We wanted to take 2.9 mile Upper falls trail to watch waterfalls, but couldn't do as the trail is closed due to icy conditions. The alcove house trail seemed tough with kids due to 140 ft. vertical ladders. 

The drive back to Santafe is also beautiful from Bandelier National monument. We saw many burnt trees on the way. Fire danger seems to be high here.

I suggest you visit Valles Caldera recreational area and Jemez falls if you can. We couldn't do them as we were tired and it was becoming dark. Anderson Overlook, White rock overlook, and Bradbury Science museum are worth a visit if you have time. 

We reached the hotel by 7pm itself and we could taste the awesome dosas from "Paper Dosa" restaurant. This restaurant has become our favorite in Santa Fe and we are going to visit this every time we travel through Santa Fe from now onwards.

The Plan for the next day is to hike the famous tent rocks. More details in my next travelogue. 

This is our second visit to Santa Fe and so, we have already visited some good places here. Read this travelogue to know more about the best places to visit in Santa Fe. 

Until next time,

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Accommodations near Roswell, NM

A Day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park #NewMexicoTrip #Day2

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Read our #Day1 Travelogue of New Mexico trip here.

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is unlike any other caves. These caves were formed 20 - 30 million years ago in Guadalupe mountains. Around 110 caves were formed with stunning formations due to the mineral-laden water seeping through the fractures of ancient limestone sedimentation. 

Geologists found that sulfuric acid played an important role in the dissolution of all Guadalupe mountain caves.

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Our whole New Mexico trip was planned around spending more time exploring Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument. So, we decided to stay one night at Whites city to start early to the caves and explore the caves with full energy after breakfast.


Caves open at 8 AM itself. Since we were visiting the Caves with 2 kids - 8 and 5 yr olds, we had to plan enough breaks. 

We have booked the only one ranger-led tour which allows 5 yr olds - The King's Palace tour. We booked this tour online at least 2 weeks ahead. We reached the Visitor Center by 9 AM. Roamed around to understand the geology of park through the exhibits, took the map and Junior ranger guide material for kids. 

The King's Palace Tour

By 9.45AM, we reached down through the elevator to the starting point of the tour. The King's Palace tour is a 1.5 hr tour which takes us through 4 highly decorated and stunning chambers of the cave. The elevator takes us down to around 700 ft underground. 

The guide was very knowledgeable and explained the different types of formations like Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, columns, popcorn, and soda straws. 

She also explained how Jim White found this cave, explored in those days and worked to make this beautiful place open to the public. We were amazed at the dedication of national park service in preserving these delicate and stunning formations inside the caves.

This tour was very informative and it was like a good starting point for us. 

The Big Room Trail

The Big Room trail is the trail going through the largest cave chamber and it is a must-visit. The trail is relatively flat 1.25 miles which goes through all unique formations in the cave. 

It took around 1.5 hrs for us to complete this trail and there are no restrooms in between. Restrooms are available near the elevator at the starting of the trail though. 

Kids were too tired after this trail and so, we headed back to the visitor center through the elevator. We had a tasty traditional Mexican lunch in the cafeteria. The food was great.

Now, we were left with the famous Natural Entrance trail. We knew this will be the toughest trail with kids, especially with our 5 yr old. Hiking up the trail is too difficult, so we settled to hike it down after lunch. 

Natural Entrance Trail

I wouldn't say it was not tough, but it was the most memorable trail in the caverns for us. We struggled, took breaks, huffed and puffed but it was completely worth it.

This 1.25-mile trail was extremely steep and took us down to 750 ft. It was amazing in all aspects. We took a lot of photos on the way to the Big room. We returned back to the visitor center through the elevator.

We visited the Caverns in Feb, so we missed the bat flight program. I heard it is amazing to see all the bats flying outside together in the evening from August to September. The park even arranges to sit in the amphitheater for the bat flight program. 

Here are some quick Facts about Caverns:

- There are 120 known caves here by this time.
- The caves are at 56 F throughout the year
- There are at least 17 species of bats in the park. The most famous one is the Brazillian free-tailed bats.
- Lechuguilla caves are famous (the deepest limestone caves in North America), but not accessible to the public and only open for research purposes.
- Apparently, the bat pop - guano was a powerful fertilizer and people used to visit these caves to mine the guano and export it.
- If you know the famous movie 'The Journey to the center of the Earth', you might realize that some parts are picturized in these caves!

Now, that you know about Carlsbad Caverns National park, don't miss it if you are near Texas, New Mexico or Colorado. 

Until next time,

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Stay near Carlsbad Caves!

White Sands National Park, New Mexico - A Travelogue

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This post is the first part of our #NewMexico Family Travelogue. Read my post about the Top 5 places to visit in New Mexico, before this post. 

White Sands National park is around 500 miles from Colorado Springs. So, we decided to start driving from Thursday afternoon and reach Albuquerque by night and relax for the night before visiting the park. 

On the way to Albuquerque, we stopped at Santa Fe for dinner. If you love South Indian food, don't miss eating at 'Paper Dosa' restaurant in Santa Fe. We all enjoyed a hearty meal with Dosa and uthappam. Even the interior and decor are simple and pleasing. 

Paper Dosa

We reached Albuquerque by 10 Pm and relaxed for the night. The next morning after a full breakfast, we started our drive to White Sands. The drive is around 3.5 hrs from Albuquerque. So, we had lunch near Alamogordo, NM and reached around 2PM to White sands national park.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands is the world's largest Gypsum dune field. With white everywhere, even our eyes strained a bit. The dunes were white with soft sand. Fortunately, it was cloudy on that day with no/ less breeze. So, we had a lot of fun sledding on the sand.

White Sands national park is located in a dessert in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. Around 100 million years ago, the water evaporated here leaving behind the deposits of salt and gypsum. 

As per Wiki,


The Sacramento and San Andres Mountains, with the Tularosa Basin between them, took shape approximately 250 million years ago. Giant upheavals in the Earth's crust distorted the land along with the gypsum deposits, forcing them high into the air about 70 million years ago. Rainfall and melted water came from the mountains causing the gypsum to percolate out and the concentrated solutions were washed down the mountainsides. The gypsum solution accumulated in Lake Lucero, the lowest part of the Tularosa Basin. Water in the lake does not have any means of escaping except by evaporation, which leaves behind thin layers of crystallized gypsum, or selenite. Weathering then reduced these crystals to fine, sandy grains. Winds then carried the grains farther up the basin, and the grains piled in steep dunes that often reach as high as 15 m (50 ft). The winds carved more dunes and, while at the same time, carried small amounts of the gypsum grains by distances of up to 9 m (30 ft) a year.


This constant movement still occurs today, and with the added alkaline and the little amount of rainfall makes it difficult for plants to grow here leaving the desert as desolate as it appears today.

The Visitor Center has many exhibits about the sand formation. $25 is the entry fee for each vehicle. You can get water only at the visitor center and, there is no availability of food and water inside the park. There are many picnic areas inside, so we can pack food and eat. Restrooms are available at the Visitor Center. The native plants of Chihuahuan dessert at the Visitor center are interesting!

 

Dunes Drive

We took the map, bought a sand sled, wax cube and started our drive. Dunes scenic drive is an 8-mile loop that goes into the heart of the White sands. There is sand on the road as well. At the starting of the scenic drive, there is a boardwalk built to walk and watch the dunes. We took some photos there, learned about desert life from the information posted.

Sand on the way too

The Rangers told us that the place where the drive takes a loop is good for sledding. With sunglasses ON, we walked, climbed on the dunes and enjoyed the sledding. Time went quickly and I would say, Kids easily spend 2 to 3 hrs on dunes by sledding.

Huge dunes of soft sand for sledding

We went on a cloudy day, but I suggest not to forget Cap, sunscreen, and sunglasses when you visit Sand dunes. Bring more water!!! There is an option to buy sleds and return them to get a few dollars back at the Visitor Center gift shop. We also bought a wax cube. By rubbing the wax cube on the sled, it slides better. 

These Picnic areas are so stylish!

We specifically wore bright color clothes just to look bright on a white background on all our photos. We had such a memorable experience and Kids enjoyed it a lot.

Our next stop was to Carlsbad. We took accommodation at White's city near Carlsbad Caverns national park. This decision was really helpful as the hotel was just 15 mins away from the entrance of the cave. So, it was easy for us to reach Caves early the next morning. 

Carlsbad is around 3.5 hrs from White Sands national park. We came through a route crossing a curvy road and mountains through Cloudcroft. The drive was beautiful and scenic. My next post will cover our travelogue on Carlsbad and the remaining New Mexico trip.

I hope you like my travelogue!

Until Next time,

Accommodations in Santa Fe:

Top 5 places to see in New Mexico with kids

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We underestimated the beauty and diversity of New Mexico. We covered Colorado,  South Dakota and A few parts of Utah and Arizona,  but we didn't plan #Newmexico trip earlier.

Our last visit to Santa fe made us rethink about our opinion on New Mexico. You can read about our Santa fe travelogue with kids. We loved the food, places, culture, art and especially the weather.

I collected information for our next trip there itself. We have many good places in New Mexico but the only problem is the distance between the places. Some of them require a lot of driving.

Here are the top 5 places to visit in New Mexico with kids.

1. Santa fe

I agree that iam a fan of Santa fe. This little art town has a lot of museums,  sculpture gardens, local art exhibitions and great Mexican food.

This town also offers some fun outdoor recreation like hiking in Bandelier national monument,  Kasha-Katuwe national monument,  the visit to illusion house Meow wolf, the Loretto chapel with the famous spiral stairs, The Governor's palace etc.,

Flights to Santa Fe:

2. Albuquerque 

This is the largest metropolis in New Mexico.  It's a busy historical town with many attractions to visit.

Sandia peak tramway is a must visit with kids to view the beauty of the city from the top. ABQ bio park and Aquarium are fun for the whole family. 

Albuquerque Balloon fiesta  in October is famous time to visit. Petroglyph national monument has a lot of

ancient images drawn on volcanic rocks and the visitor center has many interactive educational exhibits. 

Flights to Albuquerque:

3. Carlsbad

Carlsbad caverns national park is a must visit with kids. The park has around 119 caves inside. 

The elevator or the natural entrance trail takes the visitors to around 700 ft down and the Big room inside the caves is so large that it can fit 14 football fields.

The amazing formations like stalactites , stalagmites , draperies,  columns, popcorn etc., make this place look mesmerizing. The way the park is protecting these delicate features is praiseworthy.

4. Alamogordo 

White sands national monument near Alamogordo is fantastic place to visit with kids. The colour of the sand is due to the high amount gypsum in it. The sand is very soft and it shines so bright in Sun light that our eyes will strain.

Sledding on sand is a lot of fun for whole family. There are some kid friendly trails too. The visitor center has good information on why sand is white and how it is formed.

5. Santa Rosa

Blue hole which is located in Santa Rosa is a 80 feet deep natural pool which is at constant temperature of 62 farenheit. The water is very clear. 

This place is also known as scuba diving capitol of Southwest. Either your kids can check out the classic route 66 cars or try boating or scuba diving in Pecos river or drive through the historic route 66.

While those come as top 5 places to visit in my opinion,  there are many more places worth a visit like Roswell UFO museum, the giant shiprock near four corners, Taos, Bisti Badlands , Valles Caldera super volcano area and the scenic Ghost ranch.

So  how do you like these suggestions? Have you visited new Mexico earlier? What places did you like? Do let me know in comments.

Until next time, 

Accommodations in Santa Fe: