Las Cruces

We’ve passed through Las Cruces (New Mexico’s second largest city) on past trips to New Mexico but never spent any time exploring the area. The city of 112,000 is at the base of the Organ Mountains. We found a spot at the local KOA which offered commanding views of the mountains.

Our location put us in a position to visit White Sands National Monument, hiking in the Organ Mountains as well as a visit Hatch to purchase some of their famous green chiles. In addition Pat was able to rendezvous with a former colleague from her working days.

White Sands National Monument is located in the Chihuahuan Desert and covers 275 square miles of the Tularosa basin. Most of the sand we encounter is made up of granite but the sand in the Monument is made up of gypsum which has eroded from the surrounding mountains. It’s a surreal experience hiking through the dunes.

Our camp gave us views of the rugged Organ Mountains. This daily exposure made exploring them even more appealing. The mountains offer a lot of hiking options; we started at the Aguirre Spring Recreation Area with the Pine Tree Trail.

Hatch, New Mexico is an hour drive from Las Cruces and is home to some of the best green chilies available. Fresh chili season is in the Fall but we found some that were roasted and then dried(pasado). No visit to Hatch is complete without a trip to Sparky’s for one of their “world famous” green chili cheeseburgers.

While researching hikes in the area Pat found a slot canyon just north of us in Radium Springs. We never pass up an opportunity to hike in a slot canyon.

We also hiked Bar Canyon, a box canyon located in the Organ Mountains near our camp.

The roadrunner is the official state bird of New Mexico. Along Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces, you’ll find Olin Calk’s giant recycled roadrunner. The sculpture is created from landfill debris.

Just a few miles south of Las Cruces is the historic town of Mesilla. In the early 1800’s the Camino Real that traveled from Chihuahua to Santa Fe and the Butterfield Stage Coach from San Antonio to San Diego turned the area into a commercial hub. At that point in history it was part of Mexico. Many of the buildings surrounding the town square date to this time period.

In the early 1850’s Mexico and the US were disputing their national borders. In 1854 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, known as the Gadsden Purchase settled the boundary dispute. The bandshell in the town square commentates its signing.

Mesilla is is also the site where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to death in 1881.

Heading east usually means that our western adventures are nearly over. Las Cruces has been a pleasant pause and we will be back. But now it’s on to Bentonville~ bicycling capital of Northwest Arkansas.