Day Trippin' › New Mexico › From Las Cruces
From Las Cruces, Dripping Springs and Fort Selden are under 20 minutes away, the Prehistoric Trackways about 20, White Sands under an hour, and City of Rocks and Elephant Butte under an hour and a half. The best day trips from Las Cruces, by drive time.
38 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
National park · 51 min northeast
Rolling dunes of glittering white gypsum, with an 8-mile scenic drive, short trails and sledding on the sand.
Town · 39 min northwest
The self-named Chile Capital of the World, a farm village with roadside chile stands and the smell of roasting chile in harvest season.
State park · 58 min northwest
A shady cottonwood park on the Rio Grande, good for picnics, fishing and birding.
State park · 1 hr 26 min west
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.
Lake · 1 hr 8 min northwest
A reservoir framed by the Caballo Mountains with boating, swimming, fishing and hiking.
Museum · 1 hr 14 min northeast
A museum in Alamogordo on the early U.S. space program, with a dome theater and planetarium.
Town · 1 hr 50 min west
An old silver-mining town at about 6,000 feet with a historic downtown of galleries and cafes, and the gateway to the Gila.
Viewpoint · 1 hr 31 min northeast
A roadside overlook and short trail to a towering 1899 wooden railroad trestle just outside Cloudcroft.
State park · 1 hr 20 min northeast
A desert park below the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, with springs and pools in Dog Canyon and a restored ranch house.
Swimming · 1 hr 24 min north
New Mexico's largest state park, a big reservoir on the Rio Grande with beaches, boating and swimming.
Town · 2 hr northeast
A mountain resort town ringed by national forest, with a walkable Midtown, nearby lakes and horse racing at Ruidoso Downs.
National monument · 2 hr 53 min northwest
Ancient stone rooms built inside cliff caves, reached by a one-mile loop trail in the Gila Wilderness.
Wildlife refuge · 2 hr 6 min north
A Rio Grande refuge where thousands of sandhill cranes, geese and ducks spend the winter, seen from a 12-mile gravel scenic drive.
Historic site · 2 hr 51 min west
Hike an easy 3-mile round trip through Apache Pass, past a stage station, a cemetery and Apache Spring, to the adobe ruins of an Army fort from the Apache Wars.
Lake · 3 hr west
A small lake at the foot of Mount Graham for an easy picnic, a swim from the sandy beach, fishing or a walk, with the Pinaleños towering behind.
Trail · 2 hr 9 min northeast
A paved nature trail across a young black lava flow near Carrizozo.
Family fun · 2 hr 23 min northeast
A ski area on Sierra Blanca near Ruidoso that runs a gondola to 11,500 feet, a long zip line and mountain-bike trails in summer.
Winery · 2 hr 43 min west
Hop between tasting rooms in a small railroad town at the heart of the region that grows most of Arizona's wine grapes, many in historic buildings downtown.
Lake · 2 hr 1 min northeast
A mountain lake minutes from downtown Ruidoso with summer swimming, trout fishing, paddling and 18 miles of hiking and bike trails.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 88001 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.