Museum · 56 min southwest
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
Day Trippin' › New Mexico › From Ruidoso
Day trips from Ruidoso
From Ruidoso, Smokey Bear Historical Park and Fort Stanton are under half an hour away, Lincoln about 40 minutes, Valley of Fires about 45, Cloudcroft under an hour, and White Sands a little over an hour. The best day trips from Ruidoso, by drive time.
48 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
10 day trips from Ruidoso
- Valley of Fires Recreation Area 43 min northwest
- New Mexico Museum of Space History 56 min southwest
- Cloudcroft 57 min south
- White Sands National Park 1 hr 11 min southwest
- Oliver Lee Memorial State Park 1 hr 13 min south
- International UFO Museum and Research Center 1 hr 19 min east
- Roswell 1 hr 19 min east
- Mesilla 2 hr 4 min southwest
- Leasburg Dam State Park 2 hr 10 min southwest
- Old Town Albuquerque 2 hr 55 min northwest
Within an hour from Ruidoso 6 spots
Trail · 43 min northwest
Valley of Fires Recreation Area
A paved nature trail across a young black lava flow near Carrizozo.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Day-use fee (per vehicle)
Town · 57 min south
Cloudcroft
A cool mountain village at nearly 9,000 feet in the Sacramento Mountains with the historic 1899 Lodge, trestle trails and forest drives.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Viewpoint · 57 min south
Mexican Canyon Trestle
A roadside overlook and short trail to a towering 1899 wooden railroad trestle just outside Cloudcroft.
- 1 hr · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Historic site · 28 min northeast
Fort Stanton Historic Site
An 1855 stone military post with seven buildings open to visitors and trails on the surrounding public land.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
Historic site · 39 min northeast
Lincoln Historic Site
A preserved Old West town at the center of the Lincoln County War, with the old courthouse and Tunstall Store open for tours.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
1 to 2 hours from Ruidoso 11 spots
National park · 1 hr 11 min southwest
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
Museum · 1 hr 19 min east
International UFO Museum and Research Center
A quirky downtown Roswell museum about the 1947 Roswell incident and UFO reports.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
State park · 1 hr 13 min south
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)
Town · 1 hr 19 min east
Roswell
A ranching city on the Pecos famous for UFO lore, with the UFO Museum, art museums and alien-themed storefronts.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Wildlife refuge · 1 hr 32 min east
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
A refuge on the Pecos River near Roswell with a sunrise-to-sunset auto tour, fall cranes and geese, and over 100 kinds of dragonflies.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Swimming · 1 hr 46 min east
Bottomless Lakes State Park
A chain of eight sinkhole lakes near Roswell, with a sandy swim beach and paddle rentals at Lea Lake.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round (swim in summer)
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
National monument · 1 hr 42 min north
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Three sites, Abo, Quarai and Gran Quivira, preserve the stone ruins of Spanish mission churches beside ancestral Pueblo villages.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Wildlife refuge · 1 hr 47 min northwest
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
A Rio Grande refuge where thousands of sandhill cranes, geese and ducks spend the winter, seen from a 12-mile gravel scenic drive.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round (best early Nov to late Jan)
- Day-use fee (per vehicle) or America the Beautiful pass
2 to 3 hours from Ruidoso 28 spots
Town · 2 hr 4 min southwest
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
Town · 2 hr 55 min northwest
Old Town Albuquerque
The city's 1706 birthplace, a walkable plaza ringed by adobe shops, restaurants and the San Felipe de Neri church dating to 1793.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
State park · 2 hr 10 min southwest
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)
National monument · 2 hr 18 min southwest
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
Lake · 2 hr 31 min southeast
Brantley Lake State Park
New Mexico's southernmost lake, north of Carlsbad, for boating, paddling, fishing and dark night skies.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- New Mexico State Parks day-use fee (per vehicle)
Zoo · 2 hr 36 min southeast
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
Bike trail · 2 hr 54 min northwest
Paseo del Bosque Trail
A 16-mile paved path through the cottonwood forest along the Rio Grande, with no road crossings.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Museum · 2 hr 54 min northwest
Very Large Array
A huge radio telescope array of giant dish antennas west of Socorro, with a visitor center and walking tour to a dish.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
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Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 88345 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.