New Mexico Photographic Destinations
Let me help you to find a great location in New Mexico for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser known destinations, as well as the famous “Icon Locations” for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to insure a quality guide to the best places for photography in New Mexico.
- Yeso Ghost Town
- Clayton Lake Dinosaur Trackways
- Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- City of Rocks
- Shakespeare Ghost Town
- Valle Grande – Valles Caldera National Preserve
- Pecos National Historical Park
- Glenrio Ghost Town
- Bandelier National Monument
- Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
- VLA – Very Large Array Radio Telescope
- Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
- Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness New Mexico
- White Sands National Park – New Mexico
- Fort Union National Monument – New Mexico
- El Malpais National Monument – Sandstone Bluffs
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
New Mexico Photographic Destinations
New Mexico Destinations
Yeso Ghost Town
Yeso is a Ghost Town in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States, located along U.S. Route 60 west of Fort Sumner. The post office is the only business or service in Yeso; there are also perhaps a half dozen houses. Yeso was laid out in 1906 when the railroad was extended to that point. Yeso provided the water for the steam powered locomotives of the time, which had to stop regularly for water. With the introduction of diesel locomotives in the 1930’s, trains no longer stopped in Yeso to fill with water and the town began to decline. In addition farmers figured out that the land around Yeso was not really good for farming. The school built by the WPA in 1940 closed in 1960 and now there are a large number of abandoned and crumbling buildings. Most residents moved to Fort Sumner 22 miles further west. At one time there were 300 families living in Yeso.
Yeso took it’s name for the nearby Yeso Creek. Yeso means gypsum in spanish, and the creek contains large amounts of gypsum making it unfit to drink. Yeso also had readily accessible groundwater which could be pumped for livestock and locomotive engines traveling the brand new Belen Cutoff.
There are many of the original building still standing (well at partially). Many of the building are built of adobe blocks which have weathered time better than most wood structures.
Where it is:
Yeso is an unincorporated desert village in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States, located along U.S. Route 60 west of Fort Sumner.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Cost:
There is no cost to visit Yeso New Mexico
GPS:
34°26’17.988″ N 104°36’38.76″ W
The remains of the Yeso Church
Hours:
Yeso is always open.
Facilities:
There are no public facilities available, the only business is the post office.
Location Contact Information:
Yeso Post Office
Address 13520 US 60, YESO, NM, 88136-9800
Phone 575-355-9638
Yeso Ghost Town Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Like No Place Else on Earth
“Rising from the heart of the Tularosa 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 created the world’s largest gypsum dune field.
White Sands National Park preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.”, this is how the National Park Service describes White Sands national Monument.
When visiting white sands, If you did not know better, you would think that there had been a snowstorm. The sand drifts and blows into dunes that look exactly like snowdrifts, the road is actually plowed with sand piled on the shoulders as if it were snow in of northern part of United States after a heavy snow-storm.
White Sands is a very unique destination for photography. The sand is continually blowing and drifting and changing the landscape. Several species of plants have adapted well to this moving sand and the desert environment and are able to survive amongst the dunes. The contrast of the brilliant white sand and the green plant life makes for very interesting photos. Adding to the effect are the ripples created by the blowing sand, and the stark shadows from the overhead sun.
What to Photograph:
The primary subject for your photography at White Sands is of course the sand dunes. Of equal importance to the sand dunes is plant life and, the stark contrast between the sand and the plants. The play of light and shadow on the dunes creates surreal photographs.
Best Time for Photographers:
Any time can be a good time for photographing in White Sands National Park. The park is open year-round, except for special closures due to testing at the White Sands missile base which is adjoining the park. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon when the sun is at a low angle will provide the best detail in the fine textures of the sand and the ripples appearing upon the dunes.
Where it is:
Located in south central New Mexico
Directions:
Getting to White Sands National Park
The visitor center is located on U.S. Highway 70, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Alamogordo and 52 miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Travelers from Carlsbad Caverns to southern Arizona can follow U.S. 82 through the scenic Sacramento Mountains to reach White Sands National Park.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Map of White Sands National Park
Map of Dune Drive
Cost:
ENTRANCE FEES
$3 per person (good for 7 days)
Children 15 and under are free.
Entrance fees are collected at the entrance station on the Dunes Drive.
NOTE: They cannot accept credit cards for admission fees or passport purchases.
Holders of the Interagency Annual Pass, Interagency Senior Pass, Interagency Access Pass, Interagency Volunteer Pass and White Sands Annual Pass will be admitted free along with three other persons (16 and older) in a private non-commerical vehicle.
Links:
National Park Service Web Site
Location Contact Information:
White Sands National Park
PO Box 1086
Holloman AFB, NM 88330
E-mail Us
Phone:
(575) 679-2599
Nearest City or Town:
Alamogordo New Mexico
Facilities:
The gift shop at the White Sands National Park Visitor Center offers packaged sandwiches, snacks and drinks. The nearest restaurants are in Alamogordo (14 miles east) and Las Cruces (52 miles west).
There is no lodging within White Sands National Park.
For those who would like to spend a night camping beneath the stars in the dunes, White Sands National Park has ten primitive backcountry camping sites available on a first-come-first-served basis.
Tips for the Photographer:
Equipment:
You do not need a great deal of equipment to photograph the White Sands National Park, most things can be shot with a standard lens.
Photography Tips:
When photographing White Sands, be particularly careful to watch for distractions in the background of your images. Another factor to consider is that the white sands will fool the automatic exposure of your camera, for a proper exposure you will need to overexpose about 1 1/2 to 2 f-stops.
Weather:
Current Sunrise/Sunset and Moon Phase for this Photographic Destination
White Sands National Park Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
VLA – Very Large Array Radio Telescope
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, 50 miles west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes (27 of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity. Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way’s center, probed the Universe’s cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.
What to Photograph
By taking the walking tour you can photograph many of the antennas sprawled across the New Mexico desert. You can also get some great shots from the road coming to the site.
Photography and Filming
Visitors to the VLA may photograph what they see from the designated self-guided walking tour. However, any filming or photography done by a commercial or professional entity, or that is done by anyone, amateur or professional, from areas not authorized for general-public tourists or outside the hours authorized for general-public tourists, is considered to be “commercial.” Such photography must be approved in advance, and requires completing an application process, coordinating with NRAO staff, and payment of fees.
There are no exceptions. Any nighttime photography or any photography from anywhere other than the designated walking-tour path requires going through the advance-approval process and paying all fees. This applies to everyone, amateur and professional alike.
Where it is:
The Very Large Array Radio Telescope is a two hour drive from Albuquerque, 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico.
When driving west from Socorro:
Travel through the small town of Magdalena and continue on US-60.
Turn left onto NM-52 just west of mile marker 93.
Drive 2.5 miles then turn right on NM-166 (Old Highway 60).
Drive 1.6 miles and the VLA Visitor Center will be on your right.
When driving east from the Arizona border on US-60:
Drive through the town of Datil. Just past mile marker 90 you will cross rail road tracks that mark the North arm of the array.
Continue east on US-60 past mile marker 92 and turn right onto NM-52.
Drive 2.5 miles and then turn right on NM-166 (Old Highway 60).
Drive 1.6 miles and the VLA Visitor Center will be on your right.
The Plains of San Agustin
Hwy 60
Magdalena, NM 87825
Please note that the VLA does not have a physical address. If using a GPS to reach the VLA, enter these coordinates:
34 04’43.497N, 107 37’05.819W
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
VLA Walking Tour Map
GPS:
34 04’43.497N, 107 37’05.819W
Hours:
Hours
Site Open: 8:30am – Sunset daily
First Saturday Tours: 11am, 1pm, 3pm
Third Saturday Tours: 11 am, 1pm, 3pm
Gift Shop: 9:00am – 4:00pm daily*
*closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day
Cost:
Admission
Adults: $6.00
Seniors (65+): $5.00
Ages 17 and under are always FREE
Socorro & Catron County Resident bringing a paying guest is free.
Facilities:
Visitor Center
The Visitor Center is open every day from 8:30am until sunset. Upon arrival, please check in at the Gift Shop to pay admission and receive your informational brochure. You are free to explore our exhibits, where you will learn more about radio astronomy and the role the Very Large Array and other NRAO telescopes play in current research. You can also view several short videos that explain more about what happens at the VLA and how it works. A 5-minute silent video will show you how we move antennas. In the auditorium is a 23-minute documentary, produced in 2013 and narrated by Jodie Foster. The documentary is an overview of radio astronomy, interferometry, and the VLA itself.
There are public restrooms at the visitor center, there is no food available.
VLA Electronic Device Policy
When visiting the VLA, please have all electronic devices (cell phones, tablets, or anything else with an “On/Off” switch) in airplane mode and powered off. If you plan to use your electronic device to take photographs, you may briefly turn them on (while in airplane mode) to take your pictures, and then power your device off again once you’ve done so.
Please turn all WiFi and Bluetooth devices off as well.
Location Contact Information:
Gift Shop Phone Number: 575-835-7410
VLA – Very Large Array Radio Telescope Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Valle Grande – Valles Caldera National Preserve
About one million years ago, the magnificent valley was formed by collapse, after a series of tremendous volcanic eruptions ejected a Volume of material more than 500 times greater than the May 1980 eruptions of Mt. St Helens, This event climaxed more than 13 million years of volcanism in the Jemez Mountains. Minor volumes of magma, leaking to the surface as recently as 50,000 years ago, formed the dome-like hills between you and the skyline to the north, which is the opposite wall of the enormous Valles Caldera. The heat from young volcanism makes this area attractive for geothermal energy.
Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a 13.7-mile wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera is Redondo Peak, an 11,253-foot resurgent lava dome located entirely within the caldera. Also within the caldera are several grass valleys, or valles, the largest of which is Valle Grande, the only one accessible by a paved road. Much of the caldera is within the Valles Caldera National Preserve, a unit of the National Park System. In 1975, Valles Caldera was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
There are several pullouts along NM 4 to stop and view wildlife, take photos, stargaze, and find more information about Valles Caldera National Preserve at our informational waysides. These pullouts are open 24/7 for amazing views of the Valle Grande during the day and the best views of the night sky after dark.
Where it is:
Valles Caldera National Preserve covers nearly 89,000 acres nestled inside a volcanic caldera in north central New Mexico.
From Albuquerque via Los Alamos:
Take I-25 north to Route 599 (Santa Fe Relief Route) – follow signs on 599 north to Los Alamos- Espanola).
In Pojoaque, follow signs to Los Alamos and Hwy 502.
You can take the “truck route” to Highway 4 below Los Alamos or drive through Los Alamos and follow signs to “Jemez Mtns.” (State Hwy. 4)
(If you pass through Los Alamos proper, take Trinity Drive to Diamond. Take a left on Diamond, then a right on West Jemez Road to the intersection with State Highway 4. Take a right , following the highway up and into the Jemez Mountains.)
The Preserve is 18 miles up Highway 4 from Los Alamos. Driving time from the intersection of I-25 and I-40 is approximately 2.5 hours.
From Albuquerque via Jemez Springs:
Take I-25 North and Exit on to Highway 550 (Farmington Highway – old Hwy 44).
In San Ysidro, take Hwy 4 to Jemez Pueblo and Jemez Springs.
Follow Highway 4 at fork at La Cueva (stay right).
Preserve is about 22 miles from Jemez Springs. Look for the Main Gate at Mile Marker 39.2.
The Preserve is 21 miles up Highway 4 from Jemez Springs. Driving time from the intersection of I-25 and I-40 is approximately 2 hours.
From Santa Fe:
Head north on Highway 84-285 past the Santa Fe Opera.
In Pojoaque, follow signs to Los Alamos and Hwy 502.
You can take the “truck route” to Highway 4 below Los Alamos or drive through Los Alamos and follow signs to “Jemez Mtns.” (Hwy 4)
(If you pass through Los Alamos proper, take Trinity Drive to Diamond. Take a left on Diamond, then a right on Jemez Road to the intersection with State Highway 4. Take a right , following the highway up and into the Jemez Mountains.)
The Preserve is 18 miles up Highway 4 from Los Alamos. Driving time from Santa Fe is approximately 1.5 hours.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
35°51’6.06″ N 106°27’18.942″ W
Cost:
Seven-day pass if entering via
Non-commercial car, van, pickup truck, motorcycle or RV: $25 per vehicle (no per-person fee)
Foot, bicycle, horse, or non-commercial bus: $15 per person aged 16 and older
National Park passes are accepted.
Hours:
The preserve is always open.
Valle Grande Entrance Station
Summer (May 15 to October 31); daily; 9 AM to 5 PM
Winter (November 1 to May 14) daily; 9 AM to 5 PM (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas)
Located two miles from main entrance off Hwy. 4 at mile marker 39.2
Facilities:
There are limited opportunities to purchase food or drinks within the preserve. The Valle Grande Bookstore has a limited selection of snacks and beverages.
Lodging is not available within the preserve.
Location Contact Information:
By Mail:
Valles Caldera National Preserve
PO Box 359
Jemez Springs, NM 87025
By Email:
Email
By Phone:
Administrative Offices 575-829-4100
Valle Grande Visitor Center 575-829-4100, option #3
By Fax:
575-829-4141
Valle Grande – Valles Caldera National Preserve Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Shakespeare Ghost Town
Shakespeare is as authentic of a Ghost Town that you will find. Frank and Rita Hill purchased the ghost town of Shakespeare in 1935. Frank and Rita and later their daughter Janaloo and her husband, Manny Hough, and now other family members have struggled to preserve this historic site. Most of the remaining buildings are original and contain artifacts original to the town. In addition a great deal of the history has been preserved in the museum.
History
Shakespeare has had several names through the years and only acquired its present one in 1879 at the beginning of its second mining boom. It is located here because there was a small but reliable spring located in the arroyo west of the town. The reliable water sourcePyramid
Mountain Mines attracted many people, Indians who ground mesquite beans left their metates scattered about, probably a few Spaniards stopped by, and then some of the Forty-niners who were taking the southern route to the gold fields of California, watered their stock at this little spring. About 1856 a building was built here by the Army, evidently to serve as a relay station on the Army Mail line between Fort Thorn on the Rio Grande and Fort Buchanan, south of Tucson. This spring served as an alternate stopping place for the San Antonio and San Diego mail line but was bypassed by the first Butterfield coaches. However before the Butterfield quit running in 1861, they had moved the road back up in the hills and had built a square adobe stage station here. During this time the spring was sometimes called Mexican Spring according to old timers.
The outbreak of the Civil War completely disrupted the stage line, what with fighting around the eastern terminals and Union soldiers being moved back East, leaving the Southwest to the mercy of the Apaches. But the Civil War brought more people to Mexican Spring– soldiers of both sides. First a small detachment of hard-riding Texans led by Colonel Sherod Hunter traveled through this area on their way to Tucson, and from there, they hoped, to the gold fields of California. Their hopes were futile because California was overwhelmingly Union in its sentiments. Carelton and the California Volunteers rode east across Arizona and met the tattered Texans at Picacho Pass, west of Tucson. The Texans were defeated and trailed back to Texas, their dreams of California gold crushed under overwhelming numbers. During this time one or two more buildings were built at Mexican Spring by the Soldiers. The largest one was later referred to as the “old stone fort.”
With the close of the Civil War a new stage line was started by Kerens and Mitchell. They hired men in San Diego to reopen some of the Butterfield’s stations. A man named John Eversen was hired to reopen this station. Evensen came here in 1865 and lived on here until his death in 1887.
In 1870, some of the prospectors hanging around this little station discovered samples of very rich silver ore in the surrounding hills and they went hunting for financing to develop their new mines. Some of them must have had San Francisco connections because they interested the group of financiers connected with William Ralston, President of the Bank of California. A company was formed and the town was named in Ralston’s honor. The town grew rapidly and newspapers as far away as San Diego carried stories about the promising new camp.
The population boomed to 3000 people with independent miners flocking in to try to get a piece of the action. The company had some hired fighting men on their payroll to keep these independent miners off. The rich silver mined out very rapidly but then the rumor began to circulate that diamonds had been discovered on Lee’s Peak west of town. The Hired Fighting men stayed on the payroll, the stages kept running, and the town boomed until sometime in 1872 when the diamond swindle was revealed as a hoax all over the country. Most people left town for fear of being implicated in the crooked work and the town almost emptied of people.
In 1879 Colonel William G. Boyle got hold of most of the good claims and renamed the town Shakespeare to eliminate memories of the earlier swindles. With financing coming from St. Louis this time he started the Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company and the town enjoyed a second boom. More men brought their families and the place settled down to some extent but it never got a church , a school, a newspaper, or any real law. Occasionally there would be a serious fight and some of the losers might be hanged to the timbers of the Grant House dining room.
The railroad missed Shakespeare by about 3 miles and the beginning of the new railroad town of Lordsburg was the death knell for Shakespeare. Businesses gradually moved down to the new town to be closer to the source of supplies. The depression of 1893 caused the mines to close and most people moved away to find jobs elsewhere. People often took the roofs and of the town. The reliable water sourceRita Hillother salvageable material off of their houses and left the walls to crumble in the weather. In 1907 a new copper mine about a mile south of Shakespeare started to work and some of those miners rented remaining buildings in the old town. Many ghost stories date from this era when the older residents seemed to come back to haunt the newer ones. In 1935 the town and buildings were purchased by Frank and Rita Hill for a ranch. They maintained the buildings as well as they could with limited resources.
Shakespeare was declared a National Historic Site in 1970. Frank Hill passed away in 1970, Rita in 1985, Janaloo in 2005 and Manny Hough in 2018. They are buried at the top of the hill overlooking the town. The Shakespeare Foundation continues to work toward preserving the town as a monument to the Real Old West.
Many of Shakespeare’s more “colorful” residents, prospectors, and regular citizens of Shakespeare have their final resting place at Shakespeare Cemetery, You’ll see the cemetery on the left side of the road on your way to Shakespeare.
Where it is:
Shakespeare is in the Southwestern part of the U.S. in the State of New Mexico. It is just outside the city of Lordsburg.
Shakespeare is 2 1/2 miles south and west of Lordsburg on NM Hwy 494 from Lordsburg. To get to Shakespeare from Lordsburg take the Main Street exit (EXIT 22) from I-10 and turn South. Follow the signs 2 1/2 MILES on NM Hwy. 494 (Ghost Town Road) to reach the Town of Shakespeare.
Get directions on Google Maps
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
32°19’33.72″ N 108°44’18.99″ W
Cost:
Regular Monthly Tour Admission $5.00 Adult – $3.00 Ages 6 Through 12.
Private Tours are now available daily. Admission $7.00 Adult – $3.00 Ages 6 Through 12. You may call us from the Shakespeare Gate or as you’re nearing Lordsburg. Call 575.542.9034 to schedule a time and if a tour guide is available.
Hours:
Shakespeare is open only for regular monthly tours one weekend a month or daily for private tours when available. Call 575-542-9034 for tour availability.
Facilities:
Shakespeare is completely uncommercialized. On a hot summer day, guests are offered a drink of cold well water and a comfortable chair in the shade. There are restrooms in the visitor center.
Lordsburg, only 2 1/2 miles away, offers complete tourist facilities.
Location Contact Information:
SHAKESPEARE GHOST TOWN
P.O. BOX 253
LORDSBURG, NM 88045
575.542.9034
Email
Shakespeare Ghost Town Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service, encompasses thousands of acres of landscape infused with historical elements from prehistoric archaeological ruins to 19th-century ranches, to a battlefield of the American Civil War. Its largest single feature is Pecos Pueblo also known as Cicuye Pueblo, a Native American community abandoned in historic times.
Pecos Pueblo
The main unit of the park preserves the ruins of Pecos Pueblo, known historically as Cicuye, the “village of 500 warriors”. The first Pecos pueblo was one of two dozen rock-and-mud villages built in the valley around AD 1100 in the prehistoric Pueblo II Era. Within 350 years the Pueblo IV Era Pecos village had grown to house more than 2,000 people in its five-storied complex.
The people who lived at Cicuye/Pecos Pueblo spoke the Towa language, the Pecos people enjoyed a rich culture with inventive architecture and beautiful crafts. They also possessed an elaborate religious life, evidenced by the remains of over 20 ceremonial subterranean kivas. Some of the kivas have diameters as large as 40 feet and are 10 feet deep, accessed by wooden ladders. Farming was a main part of their diet and staple crops included the usual beans, corn, and squash. Their location, power and ability to supply goods made the Pecos a major trade center in the eastern part of the Puebloan territory, connecting the Pueblos to the Plains cultures such as the Comanche. There are seven distinct periods of their occupancy beginning with the Preceramic Period (11,500 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.) Ancestral Puebloan Paleo-Indians, and ending in the 1830s when the last remaining Pueblo people migrated to Jemez Pueblo where the people also spoke the Towa language.
The historical Pecos people produced, used or traded seven types of ceramic ware during their occupancy of the area. These are known as Rio Grande Greyware (plain and corrugated), Pajarito White Ware, Rio Grande Glaze Ware, Historic polychromes, Historic plain ware, White Mountain Red Ware, and Plains Apache Ware. Many of these were decorated with black, red or polychrome designs.
Spanish mission
The main unit of the park also protects the remains of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos, a Spanish mission near the pueblo built in the early 17th century. A 1.25-mile self-guiding trail begins at the nearby visitor center and winds through the ruins of Pecos Pueblo and the mission church.
Pecos was visited by expeditionaries with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. The Spanish mission church was built in 1619. A traditional kiva was built in front of the church during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 as a rejection of the Christian religion brought by Spanish colonists. However, when the Spanish returned in 1692, the Pecos community stayed on friendly terms with them. The site was abandoned in 1838, after the Pecos population suffered from marauding Comanches. The surviving remnant of the Pecos population moved to the Jemez Pueblo.
First a state monument in 1935, it was made Pecos National Monument in 1965, and greatly enlarged and renamed in 1990.
Where it is:
Pecos National Historical Park is located 25 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico off of Interstate 25. There is no public transportation to the park. Visitors traveling north on I-25 can take exit 299 near Glorieta, NM on to HWY 50 to Pecos Village. From Pecos, head south two miles on State Road 63 and the park will be on your right. Visitors traveling south on I-25 can take exit 307 near Rowe, NM and proceed four miles north to the park on State Road 63. From Rowe, the park will be on your left.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
35°30’54.348″ N 105°40’45.39″ W
Cost:
Entrance to the park is free.
Hours:
Summer Hours
From Memorial Day until Labor Day, the park is open every day from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Please note that the Visitor Center is only open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Winter Hours
From Labor Day until Memorial Day, the park is open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Please note that the Visitor Center is only open from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.
All visitors must be prepared to leave by the time the park closes.
Pecos National Historical Park is open every day except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
Facilities:
A visitor center with gift shop and rest rooms. There is no food or lodging in the park.
Location Contact Information:
By Phone
For general questions contact the main visitor center at 505-757-7241.
By Fax
505-757-7207
By email
Send an email.
By mail
Pecos National Historical Park
P. O. Box 418
Pecos, NM 87552-0418
Pecos National Historical Park Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is a remarkable outdoor laboratory, offering an opportunity to observe, study, and experience the geologic processes that shape natural landscapes. The National Monument, on the Pajarito Plateau in north-central New Mexico, includes a national recreation trail and ranges from 5,570 feet to 6,760 feet above sea level. It is for foot travel only, and contains two segments that provide opportunities for hiking, birdwatching, geologic observation, and plant identification.
The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Tremendous explosions from the Jemez volcanic field spewed pyroclasts (rock fragments), while searing hot gases blasted down slopes in an incandescent avalanche called a “pyroclastic flow.”
Precariously perched on many of the tapering hoodoos are boulder caps that protect the softer pumice and tuff below. Some tents have lost their hard, resistant caprocks, and are disintegrating. While fairly uniform in shape, the tent rock formations vary in height from a few feet up to 90 feet.
What to Photograph:
The rock formations at Tent Rocks are the main attraction, formed by volcanic eruptions that occurred millions of years ago and erosion. There is also a trail through a slot canyon.
Best Time to Visit
The best times to visit are in the spring and in the fall when the temperatures are cooler. The temps can reach over 100 degrees during the summer and the sun reflecting off the sand can make it even hotter. Temps can change by 50 degrees from sunrise till noon making dressing in layers very important and be sure to take plenty of water, there is no water available.
Season/Hours
Fall/Winter (November 1 to March 10)
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Gates close at 4:00 p.m.
Spring/Summer (March 11 to October 31)
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Gates close at 6:00 p.m.
Holiday Closure Dates:
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
New Year’s Day
Cultural Observance (spring)
Getting There:
The National Monument includes 4,645 acres of public lands located 40 miles southwest of Santa Fe and 55 miles northeast of Albuquerque, with the most direct access from Interstate 25. From Albuquerque, take the exit for Santo Domingo/Cochiti Lake Recreation Area (Exit 259) off I-25 onto NM 22. Follow the signs on NM 22 to Cochiti Pueblo and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Turn right off NM 22 at the Smoky Bear sign past the turquoise water tanks on the hill onto Tribal Route 92, which connects to BLM Road 1011. From the fee station, travel five miles to the National Monument’s designated parking/picnic area and trailhead.
From Santa Fe, take the Cochiti Pueblo Exit 264 off I-25 onto NM 16. Turn right off NM 16 onto NM 22, and follow the signs to Cochiti Pueblo and the National Monument.
A portion of the five-mile access road to the National Monument crosses Pueblo de Cochiti tribal land. Along with the pueblo, neighbors in the vicinity include the Santo Domingo Indians, the Jemez Indians, private landowners, the Santa Fe National Forest, and State of New Mexico. Please respect these landowners and their property.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Cost:
Fees – Payable at entrance
Private Vehicles – $5
Groups:
Up to 25 individuals – $25
25-100 individuals – $100
Schools:
No fee. Day-use permit required from BLM. Click here for more information.
Commercial Tours and Non-Profit Organizations:
Specials-use permit required from BLM. Please contact Rio Puerco Field Office at 505-761-8700
America the Beautiful Pass – Present at entrance
Sold and issued at entrance:
Senior Pass – $10
Annual Pass – $80
Military Annual Pass – Free
Access Pass – Free
Facilities:
Restrooms are available
Thanks to your donations, the Monument has purchased hand sanitizer dispensers and paper towels for all of the Monuments restrooms. These donations help to make our guests experiences more pleasant.
RV hookups are available at Cochiti Lake Recreation Area.
Cochiti Lake Convenience Store is approximately 7miles from the National Monument parking area and is adjacent to the Village of Cochiti Lake and the Cochiti Reservoir.
We recommend that you bring your own drinking water, as there is no running water.
Links:
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Location Contact Information:
Monument: 505-331-6259
Park Ranger: 505-761-8955
Rio Puerco Field Office
100 Sun Avenue NE
Pan American Bldg.
Suite 330
Albuquerque, NM 87109-4676
505-761-8700
Public Lands Information Center
Nearest City or Town:
Sante Fe New Mexico
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Glenrio Ghost Town
During the 1940s and 1950s, Glenrio sat very much alone in the open scrub desert of the high plains straddling the Texas-New Mexico border. Amarillo was 73 miles to the east and Tucumcari 41 miles west. Travelers driving Route 66 across the desert could see a world of stars at night, with Glenrio providing some of the only light pollution around with its diners, bars, western-themed motels, a dance hall, and gas stations. Glenrio was a flash of neon in the desert, an overnight Mecca, and a spot of evening cool in the days before cars had air conditioning.
Straddling the State line, Glenrio began as Rock Island Railroad stop. Although part of the town was located in Texas and the other part in New Mexico, the Federal Government considered Glenrio to be a Texas town during those days. Mail would be dropped off on the Texas side of the border and then the station master would carry the mailbag to the post office on the New Mexico side for delivery.
Glenrio was not a railroad town for long. In 1913, the Ozark Trails Association organized and began marking and promoting hundreds of miles of highways connecting several States, including New Mexico and Texas. Ozark Trails pioneered the transition from horse-drawn buggies and wagons to automobiles along America’s roads. By 1917, the Glenrio Hotel began receiving guests traveling by automobile along the Ozark Trail. At that point, trail was a good description of the Ozark. The crooked, dirt track was dusty in the sun and muddy in the rain. It had square turns as it followed section lines. Yet motorists came. By 1919, green and white Ozark Trail markers stood along the route through Glenrio. The Ozark Trail was incorporated into the United States highway system as part of Route 66 in 1926.
By that year, Glenrio had essentially turned its back on the railroad in favor of the highway. Businesses near the railroad either closed or moved to be closer to the highway. Several gas stations, a restaurant, and at least one motel were built on the northern right of way of Route 66 by the early 1930s. On the south side of the highway, a welcome station on the Texas side offered assistance–including water to cool overheated radiators–to motorists along the road. Local lore has it that the welcome station served as a film location for the 1940 movie, The Grapes of Wrath. This cannot be confirmed, but if location scouts didn’t choose Glenrio as a set, one has to wonder why. Even today, it’s not hard to imagine heavily loaded cars full of families leaving the Dust Bowl behind to seek a better life in California, their hopes pinned to Route 66.
During the 1930s, Route 66 was transformed into a continuous two-lane paved highway across Texas. Several gas stations, a new restaurant, and a motel clustered along the north side of the road. A few buildings from Glenrio’s rail-town past were moved close to the new highway, but most were demolished or fell into ruin. There were no bars on the Texas side of the community, since Deaf Smith County was dry, and no service stations on the New Mexico side because of that state’s higher gasoline tax.
During the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, travelers packed the highway and Glenrio thrived. Former resident John Paul Ferguson worked summers at Glenrio gas stations. He recalls constant traffic during the daytime, with cars lined up five or six in a row waiting to get gas.
A new cluster of businesses were built during the 1950s. Two of them, a Texaco Gas Station and a nearby diner, are of particular interest today. Both were designed with Art Moderne influence. Look for the curved vertical panels on top of the drive-thru bay of the station and for curved concrete corner walls and a curved metal canopy on the diner. Both of these buildings are well preserved.
Glenrio’s boom times ended in 1975 when Interstate 40 bypassed the town. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Today, the Glenrio Historic District includes the old Route 66 roadbed and 17 abandoned buildings. Most of the buildings are utilitarian with concrete foundations, stucco walls, and flat roofs, but several of the buildings are distinctive. You can still identify the Little Juarez Diner, the State Line Bar, and the State Line Motel whose sign reads “Motel, Last in Texas” to travelers arriving from the east, and “Motel, First in Texas” to traffic motoring into town from the west. Only two Glenrio buildings are occupied–the Joseph Brownlee House and an office in the Texas Longhorn Motel. Other buildings have overgrown sites, missing windows, or debris surrounding them, the detritus of four decades when Glenrio welcomed tens of thousands, fed and entertained them, and sent the on their way toward Chicago or California.
It’s well worth the detour to get off Interstate 40 and cruise Route 66 through Glenrio. Crossing the State border in one of the country’s best preserved mid-century ghost towns evokes some of the adventure motorists from decades ago felt when the traveled long stretches of two-lane blacktop through the American West.
Portions of The Grapes of Wrath (1940) were filmed in Glenrio. An abandoned “Glenn Rio Motel” is depicted in the town of Radiator Springs in 2006’s animated film Cars, where the architectural design of Glenrio’s Little Juarez Café is used for a vacant, abandoned building, which eventually becomes the Racing Museum. The opening scene from the movie Daylight’s End (2018) was filmed in Glenrio.
Where it is:
Glenrio sits just a few yards to the south of Interstate 40 at Texas exit 0 on Business I-40, a road which turns into a local gravel road at the state line. This was the original Route 66 alignment between Glenrio and San Jon until 1952, and was paved for many years until Quay County removed the paving due to maintenance costs.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
35°10’43.266″ N 103°2’36.876″ W
Cost:
There is no cost to visit Glenrio.
Hours:
There are no hours, the location is accessable 24 hour per day.
Facilities:
There are no facilities in Glenrio, there is a visitor center and rest area on the New Mexico westbound lane of Interstate 40.
Glenrio Ghost Town Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in Texas:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a U.S. National Monument created to protect Mogollon cliff dwellings in the Gila Wilderness on the headwaters of the Gila River in southwest New Mexico. The 533-acre national monument was established by President Theodore Roosevelt through executive proclamation on November 16, 1907. It is located in the extreme southern portion of Catron County.
Cliff Dwellings Trail
The one-mile loop trail to and through the cliff dwellings climbs 180 feet above the canyon floor to an elevation close to 6000 feet. Allow a minimum of one hour for the round-trip hike. The trail is not wheelchair accessible. Views of the some of cliff dwellings are possible after a 1/4-mile hike in the canyon bottom. The trail that continues to the dwellings is steep and rocky in places and can be muddy or icy at times. Wear sturdy shoes, pace yourself (use the benches), and carry water. The trail to the cliff dwellings is open starting at 9 am. Visitors must start the trail by 4 pm and exit the monument by 5 pm.
Considered by archaeologists to be on the northernmost portion of the Mogollon People’s sphere of influence, the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is home to two prominent ruins sites among a collection of smaller sites located within the Gila Wilderness inside the Gila National Forest. The Monument landscape ranges in elevation from around 5,700 to 7,300 feet above sea level and follows the branches of the Gila River. The terrain around the ruins is rugged and arid, and contains steep-sided canyons cut by shallow spring rivers and mesas and bluffs forested with Ponderosa pine, Gambel’s oak, Douglas fir, New Mexico juniper, pinon pine, and alligator juniper (among others). The area geologic history stems from the Oligocene epoch and volcanic activity that subsequently covered the area with ash. The Monument’s hot springs are remnants of this volcanic history.
Where it is:
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is located in the southwestern part of New Mexico, near Silver City. Although the monument is only 44 miles north of Silver City on New Mexico Highway 15, the narrow road is over windy, mountainous terrain. Travel time is approximately one and a half to two hours one way.
The roads approaching the monument are not plowed or maintained at night or on weekends, please use caution if traveling at these times.
By Car
Most visitors come from Silver City. Begin in Silver City on US Highway 180/Silver Heights Boulevard should take Pinos Altos Road which becomes New Mexico Highway 15 North. NM 15 begins in Silver City and only heads north. Continue for 42 miles until you reach the Gila Visitor Center. To reach the dwellings turn left just before reaching the visitor center and continue for 2 miles until the road ends.
The first 25 miles of NM 15 are narrow with steep sections of 10-12% grade for several miles and no center dividing line exists. Vehicles should use lower gears when driving to avoid overheating brakes and stay as far right as possible, especially on tight curves. An alternative route is New Mexico Highway 35.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
33°13’45.948″ N 108°15’53.94″ W
Cost:
Entrance to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is free.
Hours:
The trail to the Gila Cliff Dwellings is open to the public from 9 am to 4 pm. All visitors and staff must be off the trail and out of the Monument by 5 pm.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings, Gila Visitor Center and Gila Cliff Dwellings Trailhead Museum are open every day of the year except: Thanksgiving Day (the 4th Thursday of November), Christmas Day (December 25th), and New Year’s Day (January 1st) .
Facilities:
The Visitor Center contains a Park store operated by the Western National Parks Association. Many items related to the park, the Wilderness, and to the Continental Divide Trail are available; as well as hand made pottery, stone fetishes, and jewelry crafted by Zuni, Apache, Hopi, and other regional tribes. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms are outside the main visitor center and are always open for use. The Gila region is PACK IT IN–PACK IT OUT. There are no trash cans or dump stations. Please take all of your trash to a nearby city that has garbage recepticles and recycling.
Available Facilities
The Trailhead Museum is wheelchair accessible. Four vault toilets are placed around the parking lot. The trailhead to the cliff dwellings starts next to the Trailhead Museum.
Location Contact Information:
By Mail:
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, 26 Jim Bradford Trail, Mimbres, NM, 88049
By Phone:
Visitor Information (575) 536-9461
By Fax:
(575) 536-9344
By E-mail:
Click here to e-mail us. (If you have difficulty with the link, our e-mail address is gicl_information@nps.gov.)
Other Information:
Fire Information for Gila National Forest: (575) 388-8271
Gila Wilderness Ranger District Headquarters: (575) 536-2250
Gila National Forest Supervisor’s Office: (575) 388-8201
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
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Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
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All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Fort Union National Monument
Fort Union was established in 1851 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.
The site preserves the second of three forts constructed on the site beginning in 1851, as well as the ruins of the third. Also visible is a network of ruts from the Mountain and Cimarron Branches of the old Santa Fe Trail.
Take the self-guided walking tour complete with push-button narrations at each stop to learn about life at this frontier outpost during the early days of American settlement of the West. As a key stopover point for travelers along the Old Santa Fe Trail, Fort Union was witness to countless expeditions, Indian raids, and commercial gatherings during its short but storied existence.
Cost:
Entrance Fees – Individuals 16 years of age and older $3.00 for 7 Days.
Details – entrance fee also valid for 7 day use at Pecos National Historical Park
Best Time to Visit:
Anytime would be good to visit.Open daily except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.Winter Hours: Labor Day to Memorial Day 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Summer Hours: Memorial Day to Labor Day 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Where it is:
Fort Union National Monument is located north of Watrous, Mora County, New Mexico, USA.
Directions:
From Albuquerque (156 miles), Santa Fe (94 miles) or Las Vegas, NM (28 miles) take I-25 north, exit 366 at Watrous, 8 miles on NM 161.From Denver (313 miles), Colorado Springs (243 miles) or Raton (95 miles) take I-25 south, exit 366 at Watrous, 8 miles on NM 161.
Map:
Click here for a map of Fort Union
Links:
National Park Service Web Site
Contact:
Fort Union National Monument
P.O. Box 127
Watrous, NM
Phone: (505) 425-8025
www.nps.gov/foun/
Tips for the Photographer
Equipment:
Any camera or equipment will work well to photograph the fort. The trails and open setting allow shooting from about any distance.
What to Photograph:
The ruins of the old fort order ambien no rx buildings, but also the open meadow in which the fort is located. Something that is quite rare to find these days is a historic subject that is not surrounded by modern buildings, power lines and other distractions. At Fort Union you can shoot almost any direction and have nothing but nature in the background of your photo.
Photography Tips:
Shooting a location like this is going to depend upon the weather, more important is the sky. If you have a lot in interesting clouds in the sky including a lot of sky will improve your photos. If however you have only a clear blue or worse gray sky you will want to keep it to a minimum in your photos.For a better composition, try not to have the horizon across the middle of your photo. Keep the horizon low in the photo if you have great sky, for at the top of the photo if you have poor sky, showing more of the grassland around the fort.
Fort Union Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
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Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
El Malpais National Monument
Description:
Sandstone Bluffs overlooks millions of years of geologic history, from the 200-million year-old sandstone
formed by ancient seas, to the 3000 year-old lava that borders the bluffs. From here, however, you see more than just rocks; you see a land that is part of the cultural history of the many people who have lived, and who continue to live alongside this land of volcanoes and sandstone.
After rainfalls, the potholes, or tinajas, fill with water and create temporary miniature ecosystems. Fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, spadefoot toad tadpoles and water insects find homes in these tiny oases. Look for these small animals after summer rains fill the shallow depressions. The tinajas atop of the bluffs undoubtedly supplied people with water as well.
Cost:
There are no fees charged at El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area for regular visitation.All overnight and backcountry use requires a free permit. Some caves require a Special Use Permit. Educational groups need to make reservations for ranger-led activities.
Best Time to Visit:
Sandstone Bluffs is open from sunrise to sunset, and can be visited during anytime of the year.
Where it is:
El Malpais is located near Grants New Mexico and 72 miles from Albuquerque New Mexico.
Directions:
Interstate 40 is the main east-west highway into the region. Exit 89, east of Grants, will take you along NM 117 which forms the eastern boundary. BLM’s El Malpais Ranger Station is located 9 miles south of this exit and is open daily from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm.
Map:
Click here to view National Park Service map
Links:
National Park Service Web SiteSandstone Bluffs Brochure
Contact Information:
El Malpais National Monument
123 East Roosevelt Avenue
Grants, NM 87020
505 783-4774
Weather:
El Malpais is located at elevations that range from 6,500 to over 8,000 feet above sea level in a semi-desert. Precipitation averages 10 inches annually with most of it coming from rainfall during the monsoon season (July-September). Thunderstorms are a common occurrence during the summer months and lightning poses a hazard to hikers. Summer temperatures range from 80-100 degrees during the day with nighttime temperatures between 40-60 degrees. Winter temperatures range from 30-50 degrees in the day and can dip below zero at night.
History:
The area has had volcanic activity dating from 115,000 years ago to as recent as 3000 years ago. Puebloan Indians have lived in the area for 10,000 years and continue their ancestral uses, including gathering herbs and medicines and other ceremonial activities.El Malpais National Monument is new to the National Park System, having been established in 1987, it contains 114,277 acres. El Malpais translates to “the badlands” in Spanish and is pronounced Mal-(rhymes with wall)-pie-ees.
Tips for the Photographer
Equipment:You will want to bring everything that you have and then borrow some of your friends equipment. You will then need to bring a packmule to carry all of the things you will want for this photo location.
What to Photograph:
From the Sandstone Bluffs you can see the lava flow in the valley below, which runs for nearly 40 miles. The bluffs themselves are a great subject with ever changing forms. The tinajas, or potholes fill with water after a rain and make great subjects.Vegetation varies from low shrubs with a piñon and juniper to ponderosa pine woodlands. Wildflower displays occur mainly in the fall after the summer monsoons, with a modest spring cactus & wildflower display. Wildlife includes a variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. In warmer weather, rattlesnakes are sometimes sighted in the canyons or heard under rocks, so please be alert.
Photography Tips:
There are many opportunities for photos on the bluffs, from wide angle panoramic to close up macro shots of life in the tinajas. When shooting into water be sure to use a polarizing filter to remove the reflections from the surface so you can see into the water.To capture the true perspective of the valley try doing a panorama. To properly shoot for a panorama be sure to set your camera to manual mode so the exposures do not change from one shot to the next. Then take a series of shots overlapping by about 25%. Combine the photos using Photoshop or other panorama stitching software. With current software, use of a tripod is not necessary but will always help steady your camera and compose the shot.There are no trails and you are free to explore, but be careful there are no rails with steep drop-off and cliffs.
After rainfalls, the potholes, or tinajas, fill with water
and create temporary miniature ecosystems. Fairy
shrimp, tadpole shrimp, spadefoot toad tadpoles and
water insects find homes in these tiny oases. Look
for these small animals after summer rains fill the
shallow depressions. The tinajas atop of the bluffs
undoubtedly supplied people with water as well.
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Clayton Lake Dinosaur Trackways
Clayton Lake State Park is a state park of New Mexico, United States, featuring a 170-acre recreational reservoir and a fossil trackway of dinosaur footprints. The landscape is characterized by rolling grasslands, volcanic rocks, and sandstone bluffs, set on the western edge of the Great Plains. The park area was a stopover point for travelers along the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail.
More than 100 million years ago, dinosaurs walked on the sandy shores of a seaway that extended from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Days were warm and humid, and plants covered the shore, much like the modern lowlands of Louisiana and Mississippi. You will see tracks of at least four different types of dinosaurs, including three—toed plant eating ornithopods, meat—eating theropods, and an armored dinosaur.
There are over 500 dinosaur tracks here. These tracks are some of the best— preserved examples in the world. They represent the behavior of dinosaurs, including where some slipped in the mud and used their tails for balance to keep from falling. The tracks are studied by paleontologists to estimate the speed a dinosaur was walking, the way it stood, its weight, and if the dinosaurs traveled in groups.
In 1955, the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission built a dam across Seneca Creek to make a bird refuge and fishing lake, now Clayton Lake. Layers of basalt and shale were blasted away, creating an emergency spillway and exposing soft sandstone to the weathering effects of rain and snow.
In 1982, Clayton Lake overflowed into the spillway, rushing over the ground and removing the last few inches of sandstone that covered the tracks.
Dinosaurs that tromped along this sandy shoreline left distinct footprints that remained long after they had passed. Some of the footprints filled with dust and debris, preserving the footprint shape and sometimes even the texture of the foot that made the print. Over time, the footprints were covered by layers of sand and mud.
Over millions of years, sand turned to sandstone and mud to mudstone. These soft, sedimentary rock layers were buried beneath more layers of rock, including impervious basalt from lava flows that originated from an ancient volcano. The basalt-sedimentary rock boundary is still visible in some areas of the park.
Tracks are full of information about dinosaur biology and behavior as well as the environment in which they lived. The Clayton Lake trackways are particularly important because of their diversity and abundance.
Where it is:
It is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Clayton, close to New Mexico’s border with Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. The park is accessed via New Mexico State Road 455.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
The map shows the location of tracks that have been uncovered so far at Clayton Lake.
GPS:
36°34’20.268″ N 103°18’4.812″ W
Hours:
Open 24/7
Visitors Center 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Facilities:
Amenities
Boating Facilities:
Boat Ramp
Campground Facilities
5 Campgrounds
26 Developed Campsites
7 Sites with Water
9 W+ E Sites (30 amp)
Group Campsites
Restrooms
Restrooms with water
Showers
Vault Toilets
Group Facilities
2 Group Picnic Shelter
Group Camping
Pre-Historic Site: Dinosaur Tracks
Visitor Center
Exhibits
Observatory
Location Contact Information:
ADDRESS & PHONE
141 Clayton Lake Road
Clayton, NM 88415
575-374-8808
CONTACT
Mark Funk
Park Manager
Mark.Funk@emnrd.nm.gov
Clayton Lake Dinosaur Trackways Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
City of Rocks
City of Rocks gets its name from the incredible volcanic rock formations found here. The park encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southwestern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.
City of Rocks offers camp sites, hiking trails, excellent mountain biking, wildlife viewing, birding, stargazing, picnic areas and a desert botanical garden. The uniquely designed, new Visitor Center includes a large display area and modern restrooms with hot showers. City of Rocks State Park is your official sponsor of adventure!
Where it is:
Located about halfway between Silver City and Deming.
To get to City of Rocks State Park from Deming, take US 180 northwest 24-miles; then go northeast on NM 61 for four-miles to the park access road.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
32°34’57.126″ N 107°58’20.82″ W
Cost:
Day Use $5 per day.
Annual Day Use Pass – $40
Good for 12 months from month of purchase: all parks except Living Desert Zoo & Gardens
Annual Camping Pass
In State – $180; Out of State – $225
Good for 12 months from month of purchase
Hours:
Day Use hours are from 7am-9pm
Only registered campers are allowed in the park at night.
Facilities:
City of Rocks offers camp sites, hiking trails, excellent mountain biking, wildlife viewing, birding, stargazing, picnic areas and a desert botanical garden. The uniquely designed, new Visitor Center includes a large display area and modern restrooms with hot showers.
Nearest city with hotels:
Deming, 28 miles
Location Contact Information:
ADDRESS & PHONE
327 Hwy 61
Faywood, NM 88034
575-536-2800
CONTACT
Gabriel Medrano
Manager
gabriel.medrano@state.nm.us
City of Rocks Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave, Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.
Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high at its highest point. The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the thirty-first largest in the world.
An estimated 250 million years ago, the area surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park served as the coastline for an inland sea. Present in the sea was a plethora of marine life, whose remains formed a reef. Unlike modern reef growths, the Permian reef contained bryozoans, sponges, and other microorganisms. After the Permian Period, most of the water evaporated and the reef was buried by evaporites and other sediments. Tectonic movement occurred during the late Cenozoic, uplifting the reef above ground. Susceptible to erosion, water sculpted the Guadalupe Mountain region into its present-day state.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is situated in a bed of limestone above groundwater level. During cavern development, it was within the groundwater zone. Deep below the limestones are petroleum reserves (part of the Mid-Continent Oil Field). At a time near the end of the Cenozoic, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) began to seep upwards from the petroleum into the groundwater. The combination of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen from the water formed sulfuric acid: H2S + 2O2 → H2SO4. The sulfuric acid then continued upward, aggressively dissolving the limestone deposits to form caverns. The presence of gypsum within the cave is a confirmation of the occurrence of this process, as it is a byproduct of the reaction between sulfuric acid and limestone.
Once the acidic groundwater drained from the caverns, speleothems began to be deposited within the cavern. Erosion above ground created the natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns within the last million years. Exposure to the surface has allowed for the influx of air into the cavern. Rainwater and snowmelt percolating downward into the ground pick up carbon dioxide; once this water reaches a cavern ceiling, it precipitates and evaporates, leaving behind a small calcium carbonate deposit. Growths from the roof downward formed through this process are known as stalactites. Additionally, water on the floor of the caverns can contain carbonic acid and generate mineral deposits by evaporation. Growths from the floor upward through this process are known as stalagmites. Different formations of speleothems include columns, soda straws, draperies, helictites, and popcorn. Changes in the ambient air temperature and rainfall affect the rate of growth of speleothems, as higher temperatures increase carbon dioxide production rates within the overlying soil. The color of the speleothems is determined by the trace constituents in the minerals of the formation.
Where it is:
The park entrance is located on US Highway 62/180, approximately 18 miles southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
To access Carlsbad Caverns National Park’s only entrance road, Carlsbad Caverns Highway, turn north from US Hwy 62/180 at White’s City, New Mexico—20 miles southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico and 145 miles northeast of El Paso, Texas. The entrance road stretches a scenic seven miles from the park gate at White’s City to the visitor center and cavern entrance.
The address for the park’s visitor center is:
727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
32°10’39.342″ N 104°22’55.32″ W
Cost:
Entrance Fee
All visitors who enter Carlsbad Cavern are required to purchase an entrance ticket, which is good for three days. If you are entering with a pass, please visit the ticket counter for your free admission ticket.
Adults (ages 16 and older): $15 per person
Children (ages 15 and younger): Free
America The Beautiful—The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes are accepted.
Ranger guided tours are additional cost.
Hours:
STANDARD HOURS
8:00 AM – 2:15 PM
Last Entrance Ticket Sold: 2:15 pm / Last Cavern Entrance: 2:30 pm
Last Elevator OUT of the Cavern
4:45 pm
Visitor Center Hours
8 am–5 pm
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
Facilities:
The Carlsbad Caverns Trading Company (CCTC) restaurant has limited food options and bottled, fountain, and hot drinks. The restaurant is located in the visitor center, past the gift shop, and open until 4 pm.
Carlsbad, New Mexico also has numerous lodging and campground options. Carlsbad is located about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the park, on Highway 62/180.
Location Contact Information:
By Mail
Carlsbad Caverns National Park Headquarters
3225 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Physical Address of the Park (GPS systems may not find this address)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
By Phone
Visitor Information
575.785.2232 (operator on duty M-F)
Bat Flight Information
575.236.1374
By Fax
575.785.2133
By Email
e-mail us
Carlsbad Caverns National Park Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Bosque del Apache is the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the best location for bird photography in the United States. The refuge serves as a winter home for tens of thousands of snow geese and Sandhill cranes.
Bosque he is located 9 miles south of Socorro New Mexico and comprises nearly 60,000 acres along the Rio Grande River and is critical for sandhill cranes and other migratory birds providing food protection and shelter.
One of the highlights of a winter visit to the refuge is a morning flight out or blastoff which is a sight and sound you must experience in person to fully appreciate. Thousands of snow geese take off all at the same time creating a solid mass of waiting before your eyes.
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1939 and is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is a favorite spot to watch the migration of the Sandhill cranes in the fall. The reserve is open year-round and provides safe harbor for its varied wildlife.
The name of the refuge means “woods of the Apache” in Spanish, named for the Apache tribes that once camped in the forests along the Rio Grande.
The heart of the refuge comprises approximately 3,800 acres of Rio Grande floodplain and 9,100 acres of irrigated farms and wetlands. In addition to this, the refuge contains 44,300 acres of arid grasslands and foothills of the Chupadera and San Pascual Mountains. About 30,000 acres of this is designated as wilderness. A twelve-mile-long loop road divided by a cutoff into a “Farm Loop” and “Marsh Loop” allows automobile drivers excellent views of wetland wildlife and raptors. The road affords good views of the fields where crops are grown for the benefit of the birds under cooperative agreements with farmers. Adjacent to the Visitor’s Center, a desert plant garden is maintained.
What to Photograph
The primary opportunity for photography is the thousands of geese and Sandhill Cranes that make Bosque del Apache their winter home. The best time to photograph these birds is from mid November until mid February.
Where it is:
Directions
From the north (Socorro, NM), drive south on I-25 to exit 139 (San Antonio), go east 0.25 miles on US 380 to the flashing signal at the village of San Antonio, turn right onto Old Highway 1, and drive south nine miles to the Visitor Center (on right).
From the south (Las Cruces, NM), drive north on I-25 to exit 124 (San Marcial), go east on the dirt road 1.5 miles, then north on Old Highway 1 to the visitor center (on left).
GPS:
The lat/long to the visitor center is 33.804777, -106.890917.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Links:
Bosque del Apache Website
Hours:
The tour loop is open every day from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset, year-round.
Members of the public are not allowed to enter closed areas. This includes walking, biking, or driving. Please obey all area closed signs.
Visitor Center
Fall, Winter, and Spring Hours: September 1st through May 31st
Daily – 8am to 4pm.
Summer Hours: June 1st through August 31st
Thursday – Monday 8am to 4pm.
*The visitor center is closed: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July and on Tuesday and Wednesdays during June, July, and August. The Visitor Center may close early on the day before the above and other federal holidays.
Cost:
Daily Entrance Fee — $5
Single private, non-commercial vehicle rate (including pedestrian and bicycles)
Daily Entrance Fee for Single Commercial Vehicle — $50
Fifteen passenger van or tour bus
Entrance is free:
to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge with the following passports, which can be purchased at the visitor center.
Bosque del Apache Annual Pass – $15
Annual entrance pass to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Good for one year from the month purchased. Available to the general public.
Federal Duck Stamp – $25
Permits entrance to all National Wildlife Refuges that charge an entrance fee. Valid July 1 – June 30. Available to the general public.
Annual Pass – $80
Annual entrance pass to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. Available to the general public.
Annual Pass for Active Duty Military – Free
Annual entrance pass to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. Available to active duty military members with proper identification.
Senior Pass – Annual – $20
Annual entrance pass to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. Available to citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. that are age 62 or older.
Senior Pass – Lifetime – $80
Annual entrance pass to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. Available to citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. that are age 62 or older.
Access Pass – No fee
Lifetime entrance pass to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. No fee. Available to citizens of the U.S. that are permanently disabled.
4th Grade Pass – No fee
Permits entrance to National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management sites that charge entrance fees. Available to 4th graders with valid voucher. Learn more and obtain voucher: everykidoutdoors.gov
Facilities:
Restroom facilities are available on the auto tour loop, concurrently with hours the tour loop is open and at the visitor center.
Location Contact Information:
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 280
San Antonio, NM 87832
Physical Address:
1001 Highway 1
San Antonio, NM 87832
Phone: 575-835-1828
Fax: 575-835-0314
Email: Refuge Staff
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a rolling landscape of badlands which offers some of the most unusual scenery found in the Four Corners Region. Time and natural elements have etched a fantasy world of strange rock formations made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms hoodoos – weathered rock in the form of pinnacles, spires, cap rocks, and other unusual forms. Fossils occur in this sedimentary landform. Translated from the Navajo language, Bisti (Bis-tie) means “a large area of shale hills.” De-Na-Zin (Deh-nah-zin) takes its name from the Navajo words for “cranes.”
Special Rules
• Since this is a Wilderness Area, it is closed to motorized vehicles and mechanical forms of transportation (mountain bikes included).
• Also prohibited are campfires, collecting fossils or petrified wood, climbing on delicate geologic features, traveling in groups of more than eight people, and trespassing on adjacent tribal lands.
• Permits are required for uses such as grazing, scientific research, and commercial guiding.
What to Photograph:
The rock formation at Bisti Wilderness are look like something from another planet offering unending opportunities for unique photos.
Best Time to Visit
The best times to visit are in the spring and in the fall when the temperatures are cooler. The temps can reach over 100 degrees during the summer and the sun reflecting off the sand can make it even hotter. Temps can change by 50 degrees from sunrise till noon making dressing in layers very important and be sure to take plenty of water, there is no water available.
Getting There:
Bisti Access Parking
To reach the Bisti Access Parking Area, Drive NM 371 just under 36 miles south of Farmington (from the San Juan River crossing) or just under 45 miles north of Crownpoint, New Mexico (from the intersection of 371 and Navajo Service Route 9), and turn east on Road 7297 (a gravel road). Drive Road 7297 for approximately 2 miles to a T-intersection and turn left. Drive just under one mile to the Bisti Access Parking Area, which is just south of a broad wash on the east side of the road. There is another, smaller parking area ¼ mile further north. As this is a wide-open badland formation with little vegetation, there is no trail; visitors may walk into the area in many directions to explore. You will need to keep track of your surroundings to find your way back to your vehicle.
De-Na-Zin Trailhead
To reach the De-Na-Zin access, Drive NM 371 approximately 43¾ miles south of Farmington, New Mexico (from the San Juan River crossing) or approximately 37¼ miles north of Crownpoint, New Mexico (from the intersection of 371 and Navajo Service Route 9), and turn east on County Road 7500. Drive approximately 13¼ miles on Road 7500 to the De-Na-Zin parking area (on the left side of the road). Alternatively, drive US 550, 4 miles north of NM 57, and turn west onto County Road 7500. Drive approximately 11¼ miles to the De-Na-Zin parking area (on the right side of the road). A trail leads from the parking area approximately ¾ mile to the De-Na-Zin Wash, from where visitors walk in many directions to explore. You will need to keep track of your surroundings to find your way back to the trail and your vehicle.
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Click here for larger map.
Click here for Larger Map
Cost:
There are no fees for this area.
Facilities:
There are no facilities here, this is a Wilderness Area.
Links:
Bisti Hiker A very complete site with detailed information.
BLM Webpage
Location Contact Information:
Farmington Field Office
Bureau of Land Management
6251 College Blvd. Suite A
Farmington, NM 87402
(505) 564-7600
(800) 842-3127
(505) 564-7608 FAX
Nearest City or Town:
Farmington New Mexico
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
Bandelier National Monument
Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of rugged but beautiful canyon and mesa country as well as evidence of a human presence here going back over 11,000 years. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls pay tribute to the early days of a culture that still survives in the surrounding communities.
Frijoles Canyon contains a number of ancestral pueblo homes, kivas (ceremonial structures), rock paintings, and petroglyphs. Some of the dwellings were rock structures built on the canyon floor; others were cavates produced by voids in the volcanic tuff of the canyon wall and carved out further by humans. A 1.2-mile, predominantly paved, “Main Loop Trail” from the visitor center affords access to these features. A trail extending beyond this loop leads to Alcove House (formerly called Ceremonial Cave, and still so identified on some maps), a shelter cave produced by erosion of the soft rock and containing a small, reconstructed kiva that hikers may enter via ladder.
Bandelier’s 33,000 acres encompasses numerous scenic views with its sloped mesas and steep-walled canyons, from over 10,000 feet at Cerro Grande to just over 5,000 feet at the Rio Grande.
Bandelier was designated by President Woodrow Wilson as a National Monument on February 11, 1916, and named for Adolph Bandelier, a Swiss-American anthropologist who researched the cultures of the area and supported preservation of the sites. The park infrastructure was developed in the 1930s by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps and is a National Historic Landmark for its well-preserved architecture.
What to Photograph
The main attraction is the some of the most unusual Anasazi ruins in the Southwest.
Where it is:
Directions from Santa Fe
1 hour each way
Take Saint Francis Drive (HWY 84/285) north toward Los Alamos.
After passing Pojoaque, merge right onto New Mexico 502 to Los Alamos.
Continue up 502 toward Los Alamos. Bear right and exit onto New Mexico 4 towards White Rock. Continue for 12 miles, passing White Rock.
Bandelier’s entrance is on your left.
Directions from Albuquerque
Approximately 2 hours each way
Take I-25 north towards Santa Fe for approx 45 miles.
Take exit for US599 to avoid Santa Fe traffic (otherwise continue to exit for 84/285 and follow directions from Santa Fe). Continue for 13 miles.
Bear left to merge onto U.S. 84/285 towards Los Alamos.
After passing Pojoaque, merge right onto New Mexico 502 to Los Alamos.
At the top of a big uphill climb bear right onto New Mexico 4 towards White Rock. Continue for 12 miles, passing White Rock.
Bandelier’s entrance is on the left.
Scenic Route (approx 2.5 hours, not recommended on snowy days)
Take I-25 north towards Santa Fe for approx. 15 miles.
Take for US 550 towards Rio Rancho.
At San Ysidro, turn right onto New Mexico 4.
Travel over the Jemez Mountains through Jemez Springs and past the turnoff for Los Alamos (NM 501). Continue straight on Hwy 4.
Bandelier’s entrance is on the right.
GPS:
Visitor Center 35°46’45.431″ N 106°16’16.044″ W
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
Hours:
Park Hours
Frijoles Canyon, Tsankawi , and all park trails are open to recreation from dawn to dusk. Backpacking permits are required for overnight use and must be obtained up to 1 hour before closing at the Frijoles Canyon Visitor Center for any overnight stays in the park’s backcountry. Juniper Family Campground and Ponderosa Group Campground are open 24 hours.
Current Visitor Center Winter Hours are 9 AM to 5 PM.
The visitor center is closed December 25th and January 1st.
Juniper Campground is open year round, but may be closed to only “A” or
“A and B” loops in winter.
The Visitor Center, WNPA Park Store, and resturaunt (closed Nov – Feb) are open daily during regular business hours above.
Bandelier National Monument is open daily, year round, from dawn to dusk except during heavy snow days or other emergencies.
Cost:
Automobile/Vehicle 7-Day Entry Permit $25.00
7-Day Single Entry Permit $15.00 Per person entrance fee for visitors (16 years of age and older) traveling on foot or bicycle.
Motorcycle 7 Day Entry Permit $20.00
Bandelier National Monument Annual Pass $45.00
All National Parks Passes, Golden Access and Golden Age Passports will continue to be honored according to the provisions of the pass.
Shuttle Bus Required mid May – mid October, 2020
Visitors are required to take a shuttle bus from the White Rock visitor center to access the main visited area of Bandelier National Monument between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM, including the visitor center, Main Loop Trail, and Falls Trail. Shuttles run approximately every 30 minutes weekdays, and 20 minutes weekends. Last shuttle leaves the Frijoles Canyon Visitor Center at 5 PM.
You may drive directly to the monument and into Frijoles canyon if you meet the following exemptions:
It is before 9 AM or after 3 PM
Vehicles displaying a disability tag or plate
Vehicles with a pet on board (Please note: Pets are not allowed on ANY trails)
Juniper Campground access (A shuttle is still required into the canyon 9am to 3pm)
Overnight backpackers whose trip starts in Frijoles Canyon
Bicycles
If you have official park business
Unloading and loading of tour groups
Facilities:
There is no lodging in Bandelier, however there are campgrounds in the park.
Restrooms are located in the Visitor Center.
There is no food in the park.
Location Contact Information:
Visitor Center daytime phone
(505) 672-3861 x 517
Group reservations
(505) 672-3861 x 412
By Fax
(505) 672-9607
By Mail
Bandelier National Monument
15 Entrance Road
Los Alamos, NM 87544
Bandelier National Monument Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in New Mexico:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
All the information in this post was believed to be accurate at the time it was published. Please be sure to double check with the location before relying on this information as everything changes over time, especially hours, prices, and whether the location is still open.
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography.
If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance. [...]Read more...
