Town · 44 min northwest
Mesilla
A walkable historic town by Las Cruces built around a lively plaza and the 1906 Basilica of San Albino.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Day Trippin' › Texas › From El Paso
Day trips from El Paso
From El Paso, Scenic Drive and the Chamizal are minutes away, the Mission Trail about 15, Franklin Mountains State Park about 20, Hueco Tanks about 40, Mesilla under 45, White Sands about an hour and a half, and Guadalupe Peak under two hours. The best day trips from El Paso, by drive time.
48 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
10 day trips from El Paso
- Mesilla 44 min northwest
- Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park 44 min north
- Dripping Springs Natural Area 55 min north
- Leasburg Dam State Park 1 hr 1 min northwest
- Hatch 1 hr 17 min northwest
- White Sands National Park 1 hr 28 min north
- New Mexico Museum of Space History 1 hr 29 min north
- City of Rocks State Park 2 hr 2 min northwest
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park 2 hr 20 min east
- Balmorhea State Park 2 hr 37 min east
Within an hour from El Paso 7 spots
Wildlife refuge · 44 min north
Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park
A day-use park of river woodland and restored wetlands near Mesilla, known for birding from wildlife blinds.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
Trail · 55 min north
Dripping Springs Natural Area
Easy trails in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument wind through desert scrub and oak woodland, with good odds of seeing hawks, eagles and mule deer.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Day-use fee (per vehicle)
National monument · 59 min northwest
Prehistoric Trackways National Monument
Rocky canyons in the Robledo Mountains holding fossil footprints and petrified wood about 280 million years old, older than the dinosaurs.
- 2-3 hrs · Moderate
- Fall to spring
- Free
State park · 41 min northeast
Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site
Rock hills east of El Paso that hold rainwater pools and thousands of years of painted rock art, plus world-class bouldering.
- Half day · Moderate
- Fall to spring
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Historic site · 57 min northwest
Fort Selden Historic Site
Adobe ruins of an 1865 frontier fort once home to Buffalo Soldiers, north of Las Cruces.
- 1 hr · Easy
- Year-round (closed Mon-Tue)
- Admission
Museum · 45 min north
New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum
A Las Cruces museum on 4,000 years of farming and ranching, with live animals and demonstrations.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
1 to 2 hours from El Paso 15 spots
National park · 1 hr 28 min north
White Sands National Park
Rolling dunes of glittering white gypsum, with an 8-mile scenic drive, short trails and sledding on the sand.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- National park entrance fee (per vehicle) or America the Beautiful pass
State park · 1 hr 1 min northwest
Leasburg Dam State Park
A quiet park on the Rio Grande near Las Cruces with a cactus garden, short trails and paddling and swimming spots.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
Town · 1 hr 17 min northwest
Hatch
The self-named Chile Capital of the World, a farm village with roadside chile stands and the smell of roasting chile in harvest season.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round (best late summer)
- Free
Museum · 1 hr 29 min north
New Mexico Museum of Space History
A museum in Alamogordo on the early U.S. space program, with a dome theater and planetarium.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
State park · 1 hr 35 min northwest
Percha Dam State Park
A shady cottonwood park on the Rio Grande, good for picnics, fishing and birding.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
Lake · 1 hr 45 min northwest
Caballo Lake State Park
A reservoir framed by the Caballo Mountains with boating, swimming, fishing and hiking.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
State park · 1 hr 18 min northeast
Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
A desert park below the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, with springs and pools in Dog Canyon and a restored ranch house.
- Half day · Easy to hard
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
Historic site · 1 hr 46 min west
Pancho Villa State Park
A park near the Mexico border that tells the story of the 1916 Pancho Villa raid and the Army's Punitive Expedition, with a cactus garden.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
2 to 3 hours from El Paso 23 spots
State park · 2 hr 2 min northwest
City of Rocks State Park
Volcanic rock pinnacles up to 40 feet tall laid out like city streets in the desert between Silver City and Deming, with trails and an observatory.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
National park · 2 hr 20 min east
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Huge underground chambers full of formations, entered by elevator or by walking down the Natural Entrance, plus summer evening bat flights.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- National park entrance fee (per person, 16 and older) or America the Beautiful pass
Swimming · 2 hr 37 min east
Balmorhea State Park
A giant spring-fed pool, up to 25 feet deep, with clear water that stays 72 to 76 degrees all year; you can swim, snorkel and even scuba dive.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round (best in summer)
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Town · 2 hr 48 min southeast
Marfa
A tiny high-desert town known for minimalist art, galleries and big skies, made famous by the artist Donald Judd.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Observatory · 2 hr 54 min southeast
McDonald Observatory
A University of Texas research observatory atop the Davis Mountains, with daytime telescope tours, solar viewing and night star parties under some of the darkest skies in the country.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round; nights are cold, bring layers
- Admission
National park · 2 hr 18 min east
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Home of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas, and the sheer cliffs of El Capitan rising above the desert.
- Full day · Moderate
- Year-round; fall colors in October to November
- National park entrance fee (per person 16 and older) or America the Beautiful pass
Zoo · 2 hr 37 min east
Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park
A hillside zoo in Carlsbad showing native Chihuahuan Desert animals and plants along a 1.3-mile walking loop.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
Historic site · 2 hr 3 min north
Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
A basalt ridge with more than 21,000 Jornada Mogollon petroglyphs of masks, animals and sunbursts.
- 2-3 hrs · Moderate
- Year-round
- Day-use fee (per vehicle)
Get a day trip idea every Friday
Three ideas for the weekend, one each for Washington, Oregon and Arizona, with a link to plan the day. Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 79901 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.