ROAD TRIP: Salt Lake City to Ruidoso
Venture into the legendary rock-carved landscapes of the American West, exploring Utah's Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park, and New Mexico’s ancient landscapes, cultural history, and, yes, green chile cheeseburgers.
HOW TO GET HERE:
WHAT TO SEE ALONG THE WAY
Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, UT
Arches National Park
Visit Arches to discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures unlike any other in the world. This red-rock wonderland with 2,500 stone arches will amaze you with its formations, refresh you with its trails, and inspire you with its sunsets.
Winter at Arches is a peaceful time, without the crowds or scorching heat that can plague summertime visits. Ice, snow, and reduced park operations, however, can provide their own challenges. Check at the visitor center for the latest information on road conditions.
Make Moab your base camp for a few days while exploring Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
Moab, UT
Gateway to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, it's hard not to notice that Moab is a world-class hub for outdoor recreation. The town is bustling with mountain bikers, river rafters, climbers, canyoneerers, hikers and off-roaders who have come to play.
Moab Restaurants
Small town doesn’t mean small selection when it comes to Moab and menu varieties. Moab’s top-rated restaurants range from steakhouses to pancake houses and everything in between.
Mountain bikers may travel any of the hundreds of miles of roads in Canyonlands National Park. You may need a permit to ride some of these roads.
Canyonlands National Park
Split by two rivers, Canyonlands National Park is located near Moab, and just 30 minutes from Arches National Park, this majestic park invites you to explore a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. With hundreds of miles of trails, you can explore Canyonlands on foot, horseback, mountain bike, and four-wheel drive. Some of these activities require a permit. Canyonlands is one of many parks in southern Utah with the International Dark Sky Park designation.
Visitors come from all over the world to attend night sky ranger programs and to experience the dark skies they never see at home.
Cortez, CO
Ten miles west of Mesa Verde National Park makes Cortez an ideal place to overnight while exploring the area.
The Square Tower House at Mesa Verde National Park features a unique, tall, square building structure.
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park was established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from 600 to 1300 CE. Today, the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
The Morefield Campground is located four miles from the park entrance. It has spaces for tents, trailers, and RVs, including 15 full-hookup RV sites (reservations recommended). Full-service camping and services are open early-May to late-September.
Farmington, NM
Nestled in the San Juan River valley, Farmington is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico and at the very heart of the Four Corners region (the only place where four states meet, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah). With gems like the Bisti Badlands, Glade Run Recreation Area, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Four Corners Monument, and Salmon Ruins, there are activities and attractions to keep visitors entertained for days.
Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque is a hidden travel gem hiding in plain sight with just the right mix of urban and Old West crossroads. It’s under-the-radar, affordable, achingly beautiful, unspoiled, and filled with soul. Check out this bucket list of the must-see, must-do things in the wonderful Duke City.
Sandhill cranes can be seen congregating near sunset at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico.
Albuquerque to Ruidoso
Make the drive from Albuquerque to Ruidoso with this itinerary including stops at the Soccorro historic plaza, the Buckhorn Tavern in tiny San Antonio for a fantastic green chile cheeseburger, and home cut fries, the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, and more.