Day Trippin' › New Mexico › From Raton
From Raton, Capulin Volcano is under 40 minutes away, Cimarron under an hour, Cimarron Canyon and the Enchanted Circle a little over an hour, and Fort Union under an hour and a half. The best day trips from Raton, by drive time.
40 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
National monument · 39 min east
A near-perfect cinder cone you can drive up, then walk a paved mile around the crater rim, or down a short path to the crater floor.
Town · 48 min southwest
A small Santa Fe Trail village from 1857 with the historic St. James Hotel and the Old Mill Museum.
State park · 1 hr 9 min southwest
A narrow canyon on US 64 with tall granite palisades, trout fishing in the Cimarron River and forest trails.
National monument · 1 hr 25 min southwest
Adobe ruins of a frontier Army fort on the Santa Fe Trail, walked on a trail through the old post.
Town · 1 hr 31 min southwest
A railroad and Santa Fe Trail town with more than 900 historic buildings around its Old Town Plaza.
Lake · 1 hr 36 min southwest
A breezy lake north of Las Vegas popular for windsurfing, boating, swimming and fishing.
Wildlife refuge · 1 hr 46 min southwest
A grassland and wetland refuge on the Central Flyway with an 8-mile auto loop, cranes and waterfowl in spring and fall, and elk.
Scenic drive · 1 hr 19 min southwest
A mountain loop of about 84 miles around Wheeler Peak through Taos, Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest and Angel Fire.
Bike trail · 1 hr 51 min southwest
One of New Mexico's best-known mountain bike rides, a long singletrack through aspen and pine from near Angel Fire to El Nogal near Taos.
Town · 1 hr 41 min west
An old mining town at 8,750 ft turned mountain resort, with a walkable Main Street, fishing, hiking and off-road trails.
Pueblo · 2 hr 10 min southwest
A living Pueblo village of multi-story adobe homes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site lived in for centuries.
Town · 2 hr 25 min southwest
The state capital, with adobe streets around the historic Plaza, galleries, museums and Northern New Mexico food.
Viewpoint · 2 hr 18 min west
A tall steel bridge on US 64 northwest of Taos with dizzying views straight down into the Rio Grande Gorge.
Family fun · 2 hr 28 min southwest
A walk-through, hands-on art installation where a Victorian house opens into strange glowing worlds, near the Santa Fe Railyard.
Scenic drive · 2 hr 42 min southwest
A 105-mile mountain route between Santa Fe and Taos through Spanish land-grant villages like Chimayo, Truchas and Las Trampas.
Hot spring · 2 hr 59 min southwest
A historic hot springs resort with a dozen mineral pools of different minerals, between Santa Fe and Taos.
Bike trail · 2 hr 7 min southwest
In summer the ski hill becomes a lift-served bike park, with scenic chairlift rides to over 10,000 ft, disc golf and fishing.
State park · 2 hr 11 min southwest
A canyon park along the Pecos River between sandstone bluffs, with river tubing, fishing and cliffside trails.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 87740 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.