We didn’t have very high expectations for New Mexico. In fact, we didn’t know much about this southern US state. Sandwiched between highly popular tourist destinations like Arizona to the west and Colorado to the north, and the giant state of Texas to the east, New Mexico is often overlooked by travelers. We went there looking for a bit of warmth, after exploring Colorado in winter in freezing temperatures and after visiting Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. And we absolutely loved New Mexico! We discovered fascinating and little-known places: cliffs rich in history, impressive lava fields, and even some iconic Breaking Bad filming locations. So what is there to see in New Mexico? We’re taking you on a road trip through off-the-beaten-path New Mexico. 😊
El Morro, a little-known historical site in New Mexico
For an off-the-beaten-path New Mexico road trip, a visit to El Morro National Monument is a great place to start!
Sunday, October 30, 2022
This small park is easy to miss, whether intentionally or not, on a New Mexico itinerary. There are no grand or iconic landscapes here. Instead, the main attraction is a cliff covered with dozens, hundreds, thousands of petroglyphs—2,000 petroglyphs, to be exact. Why so many petroglyphs in this specific place? At the base of the cliff lies a pool of fresh, cool water. It is constantly replenished by summer rain and spring snowmelt. Back in the day, this water source was an oasis in the desert. During long journeys, caravans would stop here to rest and refill their water supplies.
That’s why many travelers carved messages into the sandstone of this New Mexico cliff. There are petroglyphs from the ancestral Pueblo people dating between 1100 and 1400. Messages from Spanish conquistadors between 1539 and 1776. And inscriptions from American soldiers between 1846 and 1906. This cliff tells the story of all these peoples and civilizations, and it is truly fascinating.
We walk along the cliff very carefully, taking our time to observe the most iconic inscriptions at El Morro National Monument. The rangers at the entrance, happy to see visitors arrive, gave us a booklet explaining the history of the most important carvings and the people who made them. The ancestral Pueblo people carved bear tracks, hands, and American antelopes. Meanwhile, the Spanish tended to carve texts to leave a trace of their passage. Most begin with “pasó por aquí” (I passed by here).
Some of the calligraphic inscriptions are very elegant, such as the one by E. Penn Long below. He was a member of the US Army. He came here in 1857 with camels to test their usefulness for crossing the desert. There is also the one by Ramón García Jurado (below right), carved in 1709. He was a Spanish settler campaigning against the Navajo people. If you look closely, you can read the following inscription: “A 25 del mes de Junyo, año de 1709 pasó por aquí para Suni – Ramón García Jurado” (On June 25, 1709, Ramón García Jurado passed here on his way to Zuni).
We carefully explore the most emblematic inscriptions at El Morro National Monument. We imagine the lives of all the travelers who passed through here before us. Then we head out on a short hike to the top of the cliff. There, we find the ruins of ancient Pueblo villages, as well as a stunning view over the valley!
El Malpais: unique volcanic landscapes in New Mexico
After visiting El Morro National Monument, we continue on to El Malpais National Monument. “El Malpais” means badlands in Spanish (Mal País). Remote and little-known, this park is perfect for an off-the-beaten-path road trip in New Mexico. It offers unique volcanic landscapes in the USA, with lava fields dating back to an eruption 3,900 years ago. The lava tubes are particularly impressive. It is of course forbidden to enter them, as they are quite unstable! We wander somewhat aimlessly through the park, looking for the volcano crater. After a long time exploring with maps and GPS in hand, we realize we are actually inside the crater. It is barely visible now, just a simple hollow in the forest covered with vegetation.
After this short hike in El Malpais National Monument, we then take a 60-kilometer 4×4 track that crosses the park. We were expecting harsh landscapes and vast, impressive lava fields. In reality, we drive through endless grasslands. We only encounter donkeys and a few cows, including one bold black cow that charges at the Jeep as we pass by! I think she mistook Jeepy for a handsome bull 😀 Aside from that little adventure, the road itself isn’t particularly interesting, but it is very easy to drive.
In the late afternoon, we hit the road toward Albuquerque. Although it is the most populated city in New Mexico, it is not the capital—the title belongs to Santa Fe, further north. We will actually visit Santa Fe on our way back from our Pan-American road trip, returning from Ushuaia.
Albuquerque is big-city America in all its glory: an eight-lane highway packed with traffic, endless suburban sprawl stretching into the distance, labyrinth-like interchanges, and giant billboards. It is a lesser-known city in the USA, far from the aura of places like Las Vegas or Los Angeles. We had booked a motel room. The idea of spending an evening warm and taking a hot shower sounds extremely appealing!
We end up in a rather sketchy motel in the city. But the room is pleasant: a soft bed, a hot shower, and even a small kitchenette. We couldn’t ask for more! We spend the evening working while watching the World Chase Tag championships—basically world championships of tag. A real discovery! One player is “it,” the other is the “mouse.” They compete in an obstacle arena, and off they go: the chaser has one minute to catch the runner. Hilarious!
Thursday, November 3
We’ve now been in Albuquerque for three days. For its charm, its energy, its warm-hearted locals? No, none of that! You can’t really call Albuquerque a welcoming city. Quite the opposite, unfortunately. The streets we walked through over these three days and the public library where we worked gave us a rather grim impression of this large city. We saw dozens of lost, dirty, homeless, drugged, delirious, high, drunk people. A very sad sight.
Library staff cannot prevent them from coming in to use the bathrooms. However, they are so worried about overdoses that the restrooms are locked. You have to ask for the keys at reception. Fifteen minutes, no more. Every five minutes, librarians come knocking to check if everything is okay… We spent three days working in the library. After one night in a motel, we spent the next three nights wild camping near Albuquerque, out in nature.
Albuquerque: between harsh reality and Breaking Bad filming locations
All of this didn’t really make us want to visit Albuquerque. But we couldn’t leave this big city without seeing one of its main attractions: the Breaking Bad filming locations. It’s one of our favorite series… centered around drugs. The story of a chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given two years to live. To secure his family’s financial future, he starts producing methamphetamine and eventually becomes a drug kingpin. Breaking Bad is probably not the cause of Albuquerque’s issues (and other large American cities, #Vegas #Anchorage), but it’s hard not to draw a parallel between the values portrayed in the show and what we saw here over three days.
We spent the day tracking down various Breaking Bad filming locations in Albuquerque. Fans of the series will recognize the car wash used by Walter White to launder his dirty money.
Walter White’s famous house in Albuquerque, which has become a pilgrimage site for fans of the series. The owners had to fence off their home behind a gate to keep visitors away (it is the only house in the neighborhood enclosed this way).
Jesse’s house, Walter White’s young partner’s home. It is located in a very upscale, green, and clean neighborhood that contrasts sharply with everything we had seen in the city so far.
And we end with the fast food restaurant of the drug lord, Los Pollos Hermanos. There is even a truck that was used during filming, with a few buckets of the famous sauce where the drugs were hidden!
On a different note, we make a quick stop to visit Petroglyph National Monument. It is located right in the middle of the city, in a residential neighborhood. There we find a few petroglyphs.
At the end of the afternoon, we wrap up our visit to Albuquerque. It is already pitch dark when we settle down in a dry riverbed. After these few days in Albuquerque, tomorrow we continue our off-the-beaten-path New Mexico road trip. We head south to discover two New Mexico national parks: the stunning White Sands National Park and a hidden gem in the USA: Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
