Discover New Mexico
Neat Things to do off the Course in New Mexico
The New Mexico Tourism Department is the best source for vacation planning in New Mexico. Click on the sandstone logo to the left to visit the official site.
For golfers, non-golfing spouses and families, there are loads of things to do in New Mexico after your round. Prowl the art galleries and shops of Santa Fe or Taos, or head toward Farmington to explore the mystery of the ancient Anasazi Indians, who built a complex civilization in Chaco Canyon but vanished around 1250 AD.
In Albuquerque, check out a baseball game at Isotopes Park, home to the Albuquerque Isotopes, Triple A farm club of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Visit the sharks and rays at the Albuquerque BioPark or ride a Sandia Tramway cable car to the top of Sandia Peak, a 10,600-foot mountain.
For antique shoppers, the antique districts of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Silver City and Las Cruces are convenient clusters containing the flotsam and jetsam of the nation’s westward migration — starting with the Spanish colonial period, through the days of the Wild West and continuing through the Twentieth Century via Route 66, “The Mother Road.” One of the richest antique finds ever on the PBS TV series “Antiques Road Show” was discovered during a stop in Albuquerque.
In Las Cruces, check out the secret of spiciness at the Chile Institute, enjoy a cerveza on the old Mesilla Plaza. To the west, in Silver City, Victorian antiques, ancient Indian cliff dwellings and the Gila Wilderness wait to be explored. To the southeast, in Roswell, a UFO museum commemorates the account of the famous 1947 Roswell space-ship crash. Or follow the trail of Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner and Ruidoso. And down the road in Carlsbad, explore the cool depths of the world-famous Carlsbad Caverns.
Up north, in Chama, by the Colorado border, hop a narrow-gauge steam train for a day trip and picnic into the alpine meadows of Southern Colorado, explore the wilds of whitewater rafting on the Rio Grande near Taos, drop a barbless hook in the Quality Trout Waters near Aztec or soak in the quiet coolness of a mountain lake near Angel Fire.
New Mexico is known for its fiery cuisine. It’s Mexican food, but with a twist. Using hearty red and green chile grown in-state, local chefs make blue-corn tortillas, posole, sopapillas, green-chile stew, chile rellenos and carne adovada like you’ll find nowhere else. Golfers will quickly discover the breakfast or “walking burrito,” a hand-held morning meal is hardy enough to stick to your ribs through the turn.
But there’s more to cuisine in New Mexico than New Mexican food. Some of the fanciest dining anywhere can be found in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos and Las Cruces. Whether it’s international or casual, you’ll find it in New Mexico.
New Mexico is such a diverse state, you’d be hard-pressed to explore everything in the course of multiple visits. There’s something for everyone in.
What the National Media Say About Golf in New Mexico
“The Area 51 Award” (goes to) New Mexico, for the best public-access golf of any state in the Union, and the best collection of accessible college golf courses. Who knows why, but the state with a reputation for UFOs and various other-worldly sightings (in the Twilight Zone of the state referred to as Area 51) also is the richest for daily-fee golf. Among its gems are Paa-Ko Ridge (No. 27 Modern), Black Mesa (No. 50 Modern), Twin Warriors, Pinion Hills and Pueblo de Cochiti, plus solid campus layouts at the University of New Mexico (South Course), New Mexico Highlands University, New Mexico Military Institute, New Mexico State University and New Mexico Tech.” — GolfWeek
During my out-of-state travels I have yet to find the words to get through to people that you don’t have to pay $200 for great golf in my state. It’s as if they believe if they’re not paying at least $175, they’re not getting their money’s worth. Huh? — Sun Country Golf
When golfers start talking golf destinations, it’s no surprise when Myrtle Beach, Arizona, Orlando or Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail come up. But mention New Mexico as a golf destination, and you’ll turn some heads. Yep. New Mexico, where eight Albuquerque-Santa Fe courses have formed a marketing alliance called Golf on the Santa Fe Trail to promote golf in a most unlikely locale. For a place best known for cowboys, Indians and Conquistadors, it’s a leap. Yet, over the last half-dozen years, New Mexico has quietly developed the star power to back up its claim to the national spotlight. — Minnesota Golfer
Not long ago, all Santa Fe had to offer was world-renowned architecture, opera, Native American art, the country’s best Mexican food, romantic hotels, wondrous forests and a four-season, high-desert climate that could resuscitate Jim Lehrer. Understandably, this led many golf-deprived husbands to whine, “What’s there to do?” But things change. In or around Santa Fe there are at least six exceptionally good public courses (with more on the way), including Paa-Ko Ridge, one of the most-talked-about new courses in the country, the Southwest’s answer to Bandon Dunes. — Travel + Leisure Golf
New Mexico is the new Arizona – a wild, untamed, exciting, and diverse golf destination in a rugged and inspiring natural setting – and at even better prices than its more celebrated neighbor. New Mexico has a wide variety of diversions for an unforgettable vacation. Canyon de Chelly and Mesa Verde offer world class hiking and fascinating archaeological sites. Albuquerque and Santa Fe offer a wild “old west” experience while seamlessly offering all the creature comforts of the modern world. To delight of travelers everywhere, the golf has also become world-class and wonderfully affordable for all budgets. — TravelGolf.com
Joe Passov, Golf magazine’s architecture and course-ranking editor, gives New Mexico’s Golf on the Santa Fe Trail four out of five possible stars in the magazine’s March 2007 issue for ambience, challenge and value. He ranked it as one of the ‘four best multi-stop shops for your next golf trip,” selected from more than 40 trails in the United States.