The Catwalk National Recreation Trail is built along the steep walls of Whitewater Canyon using metal walkways. The area is open from sunrise to sunset. Originally a route for a 19th-century pipeline to a local mining mill, the current catwalk was built in 1961, rebuilt in 2003 after flood damage.

The Valley of Fires Recreation Area is adjacent to the Carrizozo Malpais, one of the youngest lava flows in the continental U.S. Approx. 5,000 years ago, volcanic vents at Little Black Peak erupted, and the resulting molten rock flowed southward for 44 miles, creating a vast field of basalt lava.

El Santuario de Chimayó is a historic Catholic shrine, famous for its "holy dirt," believed to have healing powers. Visitors can collect the dirt from a special pit, known as El Pocito. Built in 1813, it's a pilgrimage destination for thousands of people each year.

#NewMexico #travel #history

Madrid was once a thriving coal mining town. Industrial-scale production started in the 1890s, peaking in the 1920s. When the coal market declined after World War II, the mines closed. The town became a near ghost town before being revitalized in the 1970s as an artist colony.

#travel #NewMexico

Bandera Crater is a large cinder cone that erupted approximately 10,000 years ago, creating a 23-mile lava flow & a lava tube system that includes an ice cave. The ice cave is a collapsed lava tube with natural, perpetual ice, the oldest layers of which are over 3,400 years old.

#NewMexico #geology

Salmon Ruins is an ancient Chacoan & Ancestral Puebloan site in Bloomfield, #NewMexico. The village was constructed by migrants from Chaco Canyon around 1090 AD, with 275 - 300 rooms spread across 3 stories. There was an elevated tower kiva in its central portion and a great kiva in the plaza.