Day Trip #1 The Lincoln Loop:
(Old West Tour) Approx. 5 to 7 hours
Spend your day reliving the lives of “Gunslinger” Billy the Kid, “Sheriff” Pat Garrett, “Governor” Lew Wallace, John Tunstall and Lincoln’s toughest woman “Susan McSween”. Walk where they walked and see how they lived during those tumultuous times as New Mexico struggled to find the peace and prosperity it enjoys today...continue here...
Day Trip #2 The White Sands Loop:
(National Park Tour) Approx. 5 hours
White Sands is one of those things that you have to see to believe… believe me! It is very easy to find, just hop onto Hwy 70 West from Sudderth Drive in Ruidoso and head down through Tularosa and Alamogordo. White Sands is about a 70-minute drive and you can save time by bypassing Alamogordo...continue here...
Day Trip #3 The Valley of Fires Loop:
(State Park Tour) Approx. 6 hours
New Mexico is a land of many enchanting features and offers a variety of geological splendors, all just waiting to be explored by you, our intrepid adventurer. Two of New Mexico’s most spectacular areas are located just a short drive from Ruidoso and present a wonderful day trip opportunity. The “Valley of Fires Recreation Area” is a 150 foot thick lava flow stretching 45 miles long...continue here...
Day Trip #4 The Space Odyssey:
(Space and Beyond) Space Log: Length of voyage…1000.008 Plutobytes or Approx. 8 hours Earth time
Start your voyage early with a great Ruidoso breakfast. Intake your energy protons at one of the many “Out of this World” human re-fueling stations located in the Village. We recommend Pena’s, Lincoln County Grill or the Cornerstone Bakery which are all located on Sudderth Drive. Of course, anywhere you energize in Ruidoso will be enjoyed by the entire crew...continue here...
Many Other Day Trips Coming Soon!!! See below for specific points of destination.
White Sands National Monument:
At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain ringed valley called the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico.
Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world's largest gypsum dune field. The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved a white coloration that camouflages them in the gypsum sand.
White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.
Carlsbad Caverns:
Established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef, the park contains more than 100 known caves, including Lechuguilla Cave—the nation's deepest limestone cave at 1,567 feet (478m) and fourth longest.
Carlsbad Cavern, with one of the world's largest underground chambers and countless formations, is highly accessible, with a variety of tours offered year-round.
Gran Quivera Ruins National Monument:
Las Humanas, largest of the Salinas pueblos, was an important trade center for many years before and after the Spanish entrada. The people resisted the newcomers at first, but they reconciled themselves to the Spanish presence, and borrowed freely from them, as they had from other cultures. The pueblo's black-on-white pottery took on new forms reflecting European styles. Other artifacts from the site recall the Spanish presence: Chinese porcelain, metal tools, religious medallions, and evidence of cattle, goats, sheep, horses, and pigs.
Documents of the 1600s tell of strife between missionaries and encomenderos, who complained that the friars kept the Indians so busy studying Christianity and building churches that the encomenderos could neither use Indian labor nor collect their tributes. In the 1660s, friars burned and filled kivas in an effort to exterminate the old religion. Hurriedly altered above-ground rooms converted to kivas attest to the Pueblo priests' response.
A second church was begun around 1569, but was never completed, partly because Apache raids had begun. In 1672, further weakened by drought and famine, the inhabitants (only 500 by that time) abandoned the pueblo.
The Valley of Fires:
Three miles northwest of Carrizozo, New Mexico, at an elevation of 5250 feet, is a 430-acre tract of land adjoining US-380 which was dedicated as the Valley of Fires State Park on; May 6, 1966. The park encompasses a large portion of the black, fissured lava of the Carrizozo Malpais, which has fascinated travelers for many years. Park facilities include campsites with shelters, tables, barbecue grills, playground equipment, restrooms and electrical hook-up for trailers. Motels and restaurants are available in Carrizozo, the county seat of Lincoln County, N.M.
