In New Mexico, you know you are in the West. There are the climate and scenery, then the evidence of colonial Spanish culture everywhere, even in the names of towns and cities — and most of all, the living Indian culture. In particular, northern New Mexico continues to impress visitors with vistas of wide open spaces, purple mountain peaks, exhilarating high desert weather and a unique Indian/Spanish culture.

Tourists can explore Indian ruins at many locations, and visit pueblos that have been inhabited continuously for hundreds of years. And, for an urban destination, whether you choose Albuquerque, Santa Fe or Taos, count on a variety of things to do, besides just savoring the charming surroundings. The area around Santa Fe is home to artists in every medium who have been drawn here by the area’s special qualities of light and the spirituality that pervades New Mexico.

That’s today’s West, but New Mexico has plenty of Old West history, too. Among other things, the Santa Fe Trail ends in the state and Billy the Kid began his infamous career in southern New Mexico. Colorful characters like Kit Carson and Geronimo also played major roles in the area’s history. Who goes there? New Mexico attracts venturers who appreciate its exotic, unique qualities and the opportunity for active exploring and active sports. When do they go? Northern New Mexico gets cold in the winter, but people who have been there around Christmas time say it's worth it to participate in holiday activities. The popular areas can become uncomfortably crowded in summer.

At Taos, go whitewater rafting on the Rio Grande. The water flows south from the Taos Gorge, passing between canyon walls lined with petroglyphs and boulders made all the more impressive when bald eagles perch there.

Join a horse packing trip, or make that a goat or a llama pack trip.

Learn outdoor skills, including archery, boating, fly-fishing, goat or horse packing and hunting.

Take a flying tour in a trike. The trike is an open-cockpit flying gadget that has been described as a three-wheeled motorized hang glider. See www.newmexicotrikes.com.

Go skydiving, or choose a hot-air balloon sightseeing trip. Or, opt for a helicopter tour.

Take a one-day or multi-day safari by 4WD vehicle off road for a closer look at what New Mexico has to offer.

At Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano, hike the rim of the volcanic cone, then cave inside an icy 17-mile lava tube. The temperature is a consistent 31 F, just cold enough to keep the ice in place for hundreds of years.

Camp and hike at the Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico. The Puye Cliff Dwellings, the ruins of a 740-room complex, are a highlight there.

Dive in Santa Rosa’s Blue Hole, an 81-foot-deep artesian well used for dive training and recreation. Available year-round, its water maintains a stable temperature of 61 F. The dive center is open on weekends to rent gear and provide air fills; it is open on weekdays by appointment.

Learn about the Pueblo people; hire a Native-owned travel service provider for an in-depth learning and activity-rich trip into Pueblo country (northern New Mexico).

Attend the April Gathering of the Nations in Albuquerque, the largest of all Indian pow wows.

Sleep in a cave — in Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast, north of Farmington. You reach your one-bedroom cave home by descending a ladder to the flagstone porch. The cave has TV, VCR and Jacuzzi, but you bring your own food.

Sample the 120-year-old steam train, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, as it chugs up and down mountain slopes and travels along the top of the steep Toltec Canyon heading toward Colorado.

Sign on for a one-week workshop at the New Mexico Photography Field School in Santa Fe. Alternatively, or in addition, take a photographer’s sightseeing tour into the countryside.

Go fly-fishing, or hiking, or horseback riding. Take that horseback trip through old homesteads and ghost towns. Walking the World has hiking trips for people over age 50; see www.walkingtheworld.com.

Ski in Taos, or visit in any season and explore the nearby Taos Pueblo, a strikingly handsome set of adobe buildings which have been occupied for more than 1,000 years.

Retreat from ordinary routines by staying at the guesthouse maintained at the Christ in the Desert Monastery in northwestern New Mexico. The monastery sits in a canyon surrounded by government-protected wilderness.

Fish for trout in Cimarron Canyon State Park. In winter, try cross-country skiing. In fall and winter, you can hunt bear, deer, elk, grouse and turkey.

Camp in Carlsbad Caverns National Park; spend your days exploring its caves. There are more than 100.

Drive the Billy the Kid Scenic Highway. Besides tracing the doings of the local outlaw, you have options to ride a stagecoach (near Lincoln) and pan for gold (at Ruidoso, and you keep what you find), among other things.

Drive the state’s scenic highways, but do it to the tune of audio CD narrations that dovetail with your selected itinerary and fill in with information on culture, geology, history and legends. See www.gallopinggalleries.com.

If this piques your interest, visit the UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell.

Take a driving tour to visit a number of pueblos (villages) in northern New Mexico. Drop in on any of the numerous casinos, and sample the greens at their golf courses. At Nambe Pueblo, take a guided tour to see the buffalo herd and, by asking in advance, you may see a buffalo dance.

Take a side trip to Los Alamos, site of the Manhattan Project during World War II.
Go bird-watching in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It is a winter habitat for migrating waterfowl.

Attend the red-hot Whole Enchilada Festival in Las Cruces, set for October.

Visit the San Ildefonso Pueblo on its Jan. 23 feast day; dances are performed from dawn to dusk.

If you really dig Anasazi ruins, go to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, where there are more than 2,000 sites dating back as far as 1,150 years ago and a 400-mile road system. Dwellings once stood five stories high and had hundreds of rooms.

Attend the daily music and Western show, as well as chuckwagon dinner, at the Fort Stanton museum.

Skiing is a favorite winter sport. And enjoy horseback riding and hang gliding in the summer.

For more information, consult the New Mexico Tourism Department at www.newmexico.org

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