Land of Liberty Explorers

During Spring Break in March, we took a fun and fascinating road trip from Texas through the Land of Enchantment to Colorado. Our sweet, but daring lab-mix Liberty joined us on the road! Over the course of the week, we visited four national parks, three national monuments, and a national historic site. Plus we had fun in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Our adventure started in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Day 1 – Carlsbad

We let Liberty sleep in at our AirBnB while we started our national park adventure early at Carlsbad Caverns! The Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the largest cave chamber in North America. Visitors explore the Big Room on a self-guided tour. Be sure to book a timed reservation for visiting the cave from Recreation.gov in advance. Curious about caving at Carlsbad Caverns? Check out our Carlsbad Caverns blog!

After exploring the Big Room, we hit Carniceria San Juan de los Lagos for lunch. The carne asada tacos and nachos were muy bueño! We picked Liberty up at the AirBnB and headed for our second national park of the day – Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is located just across the state line in Texas. It features the tallest mountain in Texas – Guadalupe Peak. Liberty joined us on the park’s only dog friendly trail, the Pinery Nature Trail. Our visit to Guadalupe Mountains National Park was short and sweet. After the Pinery Nature Trail, we made a quick stop at the Frijole Ranch. We closed the day with a great view of the Park’s signature landmark El Capitan. Visit this blog post for more on how we spent the afternoon at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Day 2 – Carlsbad to White Sands to Albuquerque

Day Two began with breakfast sandwiches and coffee at Blue House Bakery & Cafe. After devouring our bacon, egg, and cheese croissants topped with New Mexico green chilies, we hit the road to White Sands National Park. White Sands is about 160 miles from Carlsbad.

The drive takes about 3 hours and features some unexpected terrain as it gains elevation near Cloudcroft. We loved the view looking down on the huge fields of white gypsum sand was we descended from Cloudcroft toward Alamogordo.

White Sands National Park is one of America’s newest national parks. It was elevated from a national monument to national park status in 2019. Liberty had fun exploring the cool white sands on the Dune Life Nature Trail before we broke out the sand sleds! Visiting White Sands National Park is like stepping into an alien world! For more on our stop at this awesome national park, check out our blog post on White Sands National Park. After spending few hours exploring, we headed north to Albuquerque.

Day 3 – Albuquerque

We spent our third day in New Mexico touring Albuquerque. Our day began at the Botanical Gardens located in the ABQ BioPark. The Botanical Gardens feature a wide variety of plant species. The Desert Conservatory and the Railroad Garden were highlights of our winter visit to the gardens. The Sasebo Japanese Garden features an unexpected waterfall feature.

Admission to the Botanical Garden includes tickets to the ABQ Aquarium. The aquarium’s exhibits follow the Rio Grande as it flows from Albuquerque to the Gulf of Mexico – starting with small local fish, otters, and turtles and ending with a big coral reef that features sharks!

After our morning at the BioPark, we had lunch at Golden Crown Panaderia. Our pizza was baked on Green Chili crust. We took a loaf of the famous Green Chili Bread and a dozen Biscochitos, the official state cookie of New Mexico, to go!

After lunch we swung back by the AirBnb to pick up Liberty. She joined us for a walk at Petroglyph National Monument. There are three canyon hikes to choose from at Petroglyph National Monument. We chose to walk Liberty through Piedras Marcadas Canyon because of the trail’s soft surface. Petroglyphs are symbols and pictures carved into desert rocks. Spotting the unique carvings along the volcanic ridge that defines Piedras Marcadas Canyon was a memorable experience from our time in Albuequerque. Our blog about Petroglyph National Monument details our hike!

Day 4 – Historic Santa Fe & Albuquerque’s Route 66 Heritage

Historic Santa Fe is located about one hour north of Albuquerque. Santa Fe is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It was established in 1610 by Don Juan de Oñate and became the capital of the Spanish province. Today it is known for embracing a unique mix of Native American and Spanish cultures, and it is recognized as one of the greatest art cities in the world. We enjoyed visiting the Cathedral Basilicas of Saint Francis of Assisi and the nearby Loretto Chapel. The chapel is home to a famous spiral staircase that legend says was built by mysterious carpenter who answered the prayers of the Sisters who prayed that a stairway could be added to reach their loft.

We explored Santa Fe’s narrow, winding streets of shops and art galleries and made a stop at the historic Plaza, before heading to the Railyard, where we had lunch at Tomasita’s. Tomasita’s, located in the old Santa Fe railroad depot, serves authentic New Mexican food. Liberty could even join us on the dog friendly patio. We recommend indulging the stuffed sopapillas!

After returning to Albuquerque in the evening, we drove down Central Avenue to experience Albuquerque’s Route 66 heritage. The original Mother Road featured hotels and restaurants as it passed through Albuquerque. Even though the hotels are gone, many of the old neon hotel signs remain. Some spots to check out along Route 66 are the Nob Hill Business Center, the University of New Mexico, the Kimo Theater, the Route 66 Diner, and the famous Dog House Drive Inn – Liberty’s favorite.

Day 5 – Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

We had to shake up our plans on day five. We originally intended to drive north to tour Bandelier National Monument, but there was snow in the forecast for the mountains. Instead, we drove south to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. The monument is about an hour south of Albuquerque. It preserves three Puebloan sites where Spanish missions were established in the 1600s: Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivera, with a centrally located visitors center in Mountainair, New Mexico.

We began our visit at Quarai where we enjoyed touring the ruins of the old cathedral and convento. Thanks to the remoteness of the site, we had the ruins all to ourselves. After a quick stop at the visitors center, we were off to Abó. These ruins are located just off I-15, so this site receives a few more visitors. Both of our stops at Salinas Pueblo Missions led to surprisingly fun and educational day! Check out our blog post for more information on this lesser known national monument.

Day 6 – Bandelier National Monument and Los Alamos

We headed north to Bandelier first thing in the morning on day six. It is located about 100 miles north of Albuquerque. We were very excited to tour this Native American site! The Main Loop Trail is only 1.4 miles round trip and features three ladders that allow hikers to climb into the small “cavettes” that Native Americans inhabited. We extended the hike by adding the short spur trail to Alcove House. Alcove House sits 140 feet above the Frijoles Canyon. To reach it, hikers have to ascend a series of four ladders. Once at the top, enjoy the view of Frijoles Canyon and check out the restored kiva. Find out why this monument became one of our favorite national monuments on our blog post about Bandelier National Monument.

After touring Bandelier, we drove into Los Alamos where we explored the sites along the dog friendly historical walking tour of America’s atomic city. The tour of Manhattan Project National Historic Site includes the ice house monument where the first atomic bomb was assembled, the lodge where scientists and military leaders gathered, and J. Robert Oppenheimer’s house. We couldn’t tour any of the historic homes on Bathtub Row because Christopher Nolan was using them as sets for his film Oppenheimer, but we did stop to pick up a crowler at Bathtub Row Brewing! Be sure to check out this fun and dog friendly brewing co-op. For more about the walking tour, check out our blog post about Manhattan Project National Historic Site.

After wrapping up the historic walking tour, we finished our day by driving to Dolores, Colorado – 250 miles northwest.

Day 7 – Mesa Verde National Park & Telluride, Colorado

Mesa Verde was the last national park on our road trip. While much of the park was closed for winter, we explored the Mesa Top Loop by following the free audio tour. The park is known for its impressive cliff dwellings, but there is so much more Native American history throughout the park. We learned about the pit houses and other types of homes the first inhabitants built before making the short walk to the overlook of Square Tower House. The Square Tower House is the tallest cliff dwelling in the park. We also liked exploring the Sun Temple and taking in the impressive view of Cliff Palace. Visit this blog post for more on our morning visit to Mesa Verde National Park.

Following our visit to Mesa Verde, we drove to Telluride – one of our favorite Colorado mountain towns. It is located 83 miles north of Mesa Verde – and the drive is beautiful! The road steadily climbs through huge groves of Aspen trees as it ascends into the mountains. Telluride sits in a narrow valley of the San Juan Mountains and retains its Western charm while offering plenty of Colorado ski culture. Sometimes parking is tight in Telluride, so an easy and fun way to visit is to park in the garage in Mountain Village and ride the free gondola down into town. The gondola is dog friendly! Liberty wasn’t sure about dangling over the slopes, but she did love exploring the cute mountain town below. Telluride is an exetremely dog friendly town – almost every business has a water bowl outside and most restaurants are happy to allow dogs on their patios. Liberty especially liked shopping at PET Telluride and joining us for the award winning pizza at Brown Dog Pizza!