Mesilla Plaza is the center point of the old and historic town of Mesilla located next to Las…read moreCruces, New Mexico. Mesilla is known for the Spanish style architecture of its buildings. The plaza is located right across from the Basilica of San Albino and is surrounded by numerous boutique shops and restaurants. Mesilla isn't very big, so you can definitely see the whole historic area in a short amount of time. The plaza is somewhat plain, but it is highlighted by a gazebo displaying the US and Mexico flags, as well as benches to sit on to take in the sights. While the plaza isn't worth seeing specifically, it is one of the reasons why Mesilla is worth visiting.

Cute plaza with great shops and nice places to eat. Dog friendly!! Easy to find when visiting Las…read moreCruces.

This is a small museum that has some very interesting history exhibits as well as live reptiles and…read moreinsects. It has a number of exhibits that are specifically designed for children. It only takes about 30 minutes to slowly wander around, so not a huge time commitment to visit. They have a unique exhibit of a trackway from the Permian period. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Overall worth a look.

It's free with a lot of information for kids to learn about. For example dinosaur, the su and artread more

Great place for children & adults to explore. We loved the owls as you enter the museum. Great to…read moresee the animals too!

Well worth the stop! Husband and I really enjoyed it! Was awesome seeing the stomping grounds of…read moreBilly the Kid. Very interesting.

As a dinosaur lover, this museum is super cool! So many fossils from thousands of years ago. It's…read morecrazy to imagine a time period where the massive creatures roamed the earth. There are also other interesting collections, but you'll have to come see for yourself!

Wow! On our last visit to Las Cruces, the Zuhl Museum was on my "to see" list, but we weren't able…read moreto squeeze it in. So once again visiting Las Cruces, we decided to check it out. Now I realize it should have been first on my list. Who knew petrified wood could be so beautiful and interesting? The Zuhl Collection is the largest collection of petrified wood on display in the country. In addition to petrified wood, they have fossils, minerals, and even a meteorite. Over 1,800 specimens are beautifully displayed in this small museum on the campus of the New Mexico State University. We had the place to ourselves when we arrived on a Thursday afternoon. There is much to see, so it was nice to be able to wander at our leisure. This is truly a fantastic place; don't miss it. Move it to the top of your "to see" list, and go. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.

This review is for Pine Tree Trail which was a ~4.2 miles round trip that took ~2.5 hours to…read morecomplete. Pine Tree Trail was located 45 minutes away from White Sands National Park. This was on the way back to Las Cruces which was a good stop for a second hike. This hike was done counterclockwise; trail was a narrow path of dirt and rock with plenty of inclines! Stunning views of the surrounding mountains and desert terrain! Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/9wHTPd_FhNo

I came here on a whim to explore the mountains close up. This is a fee area of $5 per car, but if…read moreyou have an annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass it's a participating site. You can either show the person in the visitor center to get a receipt or display it in your car on the dash or hangtag. The person in the visitor center was helpful. The park closes at sunset (with the chance of fees if you don't leave by then) and so there's a whiteboard with the exact time you need to leave. There are a bunch of trail maps and the maps that prohibit dogs are also clearly marked. The worker recommended the La Cueva trail as there wasn't enough time for us to do the trail originally planned and gave us the back story behind it. He seemed very knowledgeable! There are gorgeous views and the trails seemed well maintained with gravel/dirt.

We saw an excellent exhibit of art from border artists that was very thought provoking. The museum…read moreis small but well designed and it adjoins the Nature and Science museum making is easy to browse both.

This small city museum is free. There are seasonal exhibits for the public to enjoy. The…read morepaintings from the Impressionism was quite impressive.

What an amazing hidden gem this is, way off the beaten path in America! On the edge of nothingness…read morein tiny Organ, New Mexico, you aren't far from Las Cruces. But it's also the final stop on eastbound Highway 70 before emptiness, the longest span on one of America's longest roads without any population (48 miles of nothing). Exiting the highway here gives travelers one last point of interest before making the lonely drive to White Sands National Park. And what a worthy stop this is! Driving up a narrow road between weeds and brush, you might wonder if the place is abandoned. And judging by the name, you'd think Space Murals Museum was a tribute to artwork. Nope, that's just a reference to the painted water tower that started the whole journey in 1990. After painting several pictorials of space accomplishments on the tower, so many passersby were interested in this quirky stop that they walked around the tower looking for an entrance. But it only held water. This wasn't a museum. So the owner decided to give the people what they wanted, opening a small museum in 1992. Today, it's blossomed into a multi-room collection of NASA-donated space memorabilia and collectors' contributions. These aren't murals. They're relics of space travel! Highlights include the actual fuel tank that allowed the Apollo 11 Lunar Module to detach and land on the moon! You'll also find leftover astronaut food from a Space Shuttle mission and an early model of the space capsule that allowed John Glenn to become the first American to orbit the Earth. NASA even donated the original model for the space station to the museum, making quite the centerpiece! There are so many amazing space relics to see here, so don't let the name fool you! They also have an outdoor display and a nice little gift shop. It's a wonderful museum. And boy do I love a good freeze-dried mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich!

I have to admit I wasn't sure about this place when we first pulled up, but it ended up being an…read moreinteresting stop. It's dog friendly and the volunteer working when we visited was quite gregarious and offered our dog some treats that she makes herself to bring in for the pups that visit. Our dog is very picky so she didn't eat it, but it was very sweet and thoughtful. You could tell that the volunteer genuinely loves the museum and was super excited to have visitors to share it with. She chatted with us quite a bit and it was almost like a personal tour where she was giving us information on everything inside. During our visit only one other couple stopped in, they had a dog also, and she was just as warm and friendly to them. It's nice to hear stories from someone who really cares about the history and is clearly knowledgeable. For me, the highlight was getting to touch things that had been on the moon and returned to Earth. How many people can say they have touched something that has been on the moon? My husband thought seeing all the old astronauts food in toothpaste styled tubes was interesting. There's something about vintage space travel that's kind of fascinating and almost funny; it's interesting to see how far we've come. The murals were fine, but the museum and artifacts were probably more enjoyable to me personally. It's not a huge place but there's definitely a lot to see. We got a souvenir coin on our way out which serves as a nice little memento. It's definitely worth stopping in even if you just have a mild interest in space because the price of admission can't be beat, it's free!!