Got an extra day in Albuquerque and already taken care of your bucket list of sites to see? There's nothing like a quick New Mexico day trip to explore the spectacular scenery we're surrounded by in the Duke City.
Whether you're looking for culture, history, or just plain fun, you'll find it in all directions from Albuquerque. The city serves as an excellent hub for hiking, biking, escorted tours, and self-guided adventures. New Mexico is home to 11 national monuments, and several are an easy drive from Albuquerque. The park, 72 miles west of Albuquerque near Grants, has big cliffs and sweeping vistas. It's best known for its lava tubes and lava flows created millions of years ago.
There are bats that live at El Malpais, so there may be closures to protect the bats if they're hibernating. There are three exits off of I that take you to different parts of the park; Highway takes you to the cliffs overlooking black basalt lava flows, while Highway 53 out of Grants takes you to lava tubes and park headquarters.
Just outside the park is the privately owned ice cave and foot deep Bandera volcano. The "ice cave" is a collapsed lava tube whose inside temperature doesn't rise above 31 degrees. Planted atop a sheer-walled foot mesa, the Acoma Pueblo's Sky City is one of the longest-inhabited cities in North America, dating back to Protected from invaders by its lofty location and narrow access, it was eventually conquered by the Spanish, who started construction of the San Esteban del Rey Mission in The Acoma people are famous for their pottery, and on a tour you'll get to meets the artists and purchase their work.
Sky City can be accessed only by guided educational tours, which start at the cultural center, and a permit must be purchased for photography, which is restricted. On the western edge of Albuquerque, a historical treasure hunt awaits. Petroglyph National Monument , sprawling across multiple sections on the west mesa of the city, contains thousands of images carved into the basalt rocks between to years ago by both Native Americans and early Spanish settlers.
