Visitors Guide

Riding the Rail Runner Express

In 2006, the Rail Runner Express took its first passengers along the 96.5-mile route it runs between Belen and Santa Fe, New Mexico. This commuter train provides daily service to 15 stations in Valencia, Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Santa Fe counties, and has plenty of local bus connections to help people complete their journeys. The iconic […]

Albuquerque’s Great Outdoors: Guide to Wilderness Trails

Albuquerque is New Mexico’s largest city — a metropolitan area of nearly one million people. Sometimes living in a city can feel suffocating. Sometimes you just want to escape into the wild.Well, Albuquerque is the right place to start. Within an hour’s drive, you can access the wild: tens of thousands of acres of true […]

Astonishing Ancients at Petroglyph National Monument

If you’d like to take a “cool” walk this winter, you might consider Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument. Temperatures will be much lower than in July and, for certain, the kids or grandkids will think the park is extra chill. Petroglyph National Monument consists of a 17-mile-long stretch of volcanic basalt escarpment comprising Albuquerque’s West Mesa. […]

Travel to Albuquerque: The Best Ways to Reach the City

Albuquerque is located at a crossroads in north-central New Mexico. Interstate 25, which runs north and south, intersects with Interstate 40 right in the middle of town. That makes it quite simple for Albuquerque travelers arriving by car to get to the city from any direction. Back in the early days of interstate highways, the […]

Adjusting to the Albuquerque Elevation

Albuquerque Elevation Albuquerque’s (ABQ) elevation averages 5,350 feet above sea level, a bit higher than the Mile High City of Denver and one of the highest of any large city in the country! The elevation rises from 4,900 feet above sea level near the Rio Grande to 6,700 feet in the foothills of the Sandia […]

Balloon Fiesta Launches an Unforgettable Kaleidoscope of Color

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta crowds the sky with hot air balloons in every color and shape imaginable for nine days in October. The world’s largest balloon festival takes place at Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta Park. Why Get Up at Dawn for Balloon Fiesta? Each day of the fiesta begins with a Dawn Patrol launch of […]