New Mexico National Parks, National Monuments and More in New Mexico

National Park Service

Aztec Ruins National Monument
Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves structures and artifacts of Ancestral Pueblo people from the 1100's through 1200s.

Bandelier National Monument
Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and the ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier also includes over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness.

Capulin Volcano National Monument
The primary significance of Capulin Volcano National Monument lies in the phenomenon of Capulin Volcano. This well-preserved volcano relatively young (58,000 to 62,000 years old), symmetrical volcanic cinder cone rises steeply (more than a 1,500 feet) and conspicuously from the surrounding grassland plains to an elevation of 8,182 feet above sea level: its irregular rim extends about a mile in circumference; and its crater is about 415 feet deep. The sighting of the prominent cinder cone by travelers at a distance makes it an important landmark today as it probably also was for early pioneers.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef, the park contains 100 known caves, including Lechuguilla Cave the nation's deepest limestone cave at 1,567 feet (478m) and third longest.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area. The Chacoan cultural sites are fragile and irreplaceable and represent a significant part of America's cultural heritage. The sites are part of the sacred homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest..

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail recognizes the primary route between the colonial Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial capitals at San Juan de Los Caballeros; San Gabriel; and Santa Fe. The national historic trail extends 404 miles from El Paso, Texas, to San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico.

El Malpais National Monument
Historic and archeological sites provide reminders of past times. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna,and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo.

El Morro National Monument
Rising 200 feet above the valley floor, this massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins

Fort Union National Monument
Fort Union was established in 1851 by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin V. Sumner as a guardian and protector of the Santa Fe Trail. During it's forty-year history, three different forts were constructed close together. The third and final Fort Union was the largest in the American Southwest, and functioned as a military garrison, territorial arsenal, and military supply depot for the southwest

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s.

Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient pueblo of Pecos, two Spanish Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass

Petroglyph National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of this earliest contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials: the ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Ab, and Gran Quivira and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail
Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe.

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates the removal of the Cherokee and the paths that 17 Cherokee detachments followed westward.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument preserves a gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.