New Mexico

Top 3 Ansel Adams Hikes

The legendary shooter once said that photographs were "usually looked at, seldom looked into." Take a look into three hikes that inspired some of Ansel Adams greatest photos, and take a few pictures yourself.

Your Daily Tread: Local Hikes Across the U.S.

What's better than hiking every weekend? Hiking every day. Here are the best big-city escapes from New York to Los Angeles. Plus: Bill Donahue explores the remote reaches of Portland's Forest Park and discovers secrets even locals don't know.

Free Maps! Our Contributors Favorite Local Hikes

Online or via your cellphone these trips are ready to be downloaded and explored.

Rip & Go: Wheeler Peak Loop - Wheeler Peak Wilderness, NM

Connect alpine lakes and tag three summits on this wildflower- and wildlife-packed loop.

Vote on America's Best Trail

For our 2010 Readers' Choice issue we want to know your favorite trail in America.

Natural Wonders: Ice Caves, Bison, and Huckleberries

Three treks to life-list phenomena

Weekend Planner: Quick Escapes

Get big views and rack up long miles with these close-to-home adventures.

America's Newest Wilderness

A quick guide to the best acres, trails, and views.

Hike It, Save It: Otero Mesa, NM

The threat to this 1.2 million acre wilderness? Oil Drilling. Hike to the top of 6,660-foot Alamo Mountain to see what's at stake.

Three Trips to Natural Wonders

Discover the world's oldest tree, America's biggest cavern, and Florida's largest herd of wild horses on these three treks.

MOUNTAIN WEST
Special Survey: Best Cities to Raise an Outdoor Kid

Locals get to enjoy what out-of-towners dream about–mountain-ringed horizons, alpine lakes, and bluebird skies that make these Rocky Mountain states the pinnacle of outdoor recreation.

Ridge Runner

Undeterred by injuries that would cripple most men, a Colorado hiker nears the halfway point in a pioneering attempt to thru-hike the true crest of the Continental Divide. In this extended online interview, Dunmire talks about his gear essentials, near misses, and the challenges that lay ahead as he continues to trace North America's spine.

Top 3 Night Hikes

These dark-sky treks serve up perfect viewing spots for autumn's intergalactic bling in North Carolina, New Mexico, and California

Walking Bataan: The Hardest Miles

Survivors of the Bataan death march overcame one of history's most grueling walks. What kept them on their feet? and could you do the same? every year, more than 4,000 people hike through the New Mexico desert to find out.

Adventure Weekends: Luxury Hiking and Camping

We've got a selection of cozy shelters and trail-side restaurants from Washington to Maine. Check out these hikes in the Rockies, the Northeast, and the Northwest.

Trip Finder: Wildflowers

Trek the best spring blooms from the Ozarks to the Olympics with these two, three, and four day treks.

Top 3 White Mountain Treks

No, not the famously wind-whipped peaks in New Hampshire. Explore some of the country's lesser-known Whites with these accessible spring summits in Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska.

Hot Springs: Soak Here Now

6 more must-dip pools from Alaska to Hawaii

Hot Springs: The Perfect Pool

Here are the top wilderness soaks on the continent. Can you keep a secret?

Trip Finder: Stay-Dry Spring Hikes

Stay dry on spring treks in Minnesota, New Mexico, and more.

Make Your Own Hikes

Invent your own hike, and go where no one (well, almost no one) has gone before.

The Continental Divide Trail Project

We sent 209 readers out to GPS the Continental Divide Trail, the biggest, baddest, long-distance path of them all. They brought back the makings of the first authoritative map of this American classic. Here, read the Backpacker Blog on the project, and view three exclusive on-the-trail video.

Phenomenon: Valles Caldera

Hike into the epicenter of a cataclysmic explosion in New Mexico's Valles Caldera

Perfect Day: Gila Wilderness, New Mexico

Take a winter hike to the steaming pools of Melanie Hot Springs in Gila Wilderness, New Mexico.

Preserving Ancient Artifacts

Looking to get more than scenic views out of your hikes? The U.S. Forest Service's Passport in Time program turns trekkers into weekend archaeologists.

Magellan, Muir, And Me: Backpacking the Pecos Wilderness

Invent your own hike, and go where no one (well, almost no one) has gone before.

High Points: Wheeler Peak, New Mexico

Bighorn sheep and golden eagles await you at this high point.

Hike New Mexico's Big Hatchet Peak

A seldom-visited peak on the Continental Divide Trail

Hike New Mexico's Alamo Mountain

Explore the past on Otero Mesa

Backpack New Mexico's Gila Wilderness

Celebrating wilderness protection where the idea began: the Gila Wilderness

Night Vision

Bats have nothing on this nocturnal hiker.

Best Backpacking In New Mexico

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in New Mexico.

Baca Ranch: The Southwest's Yellowstone

For years, hikers have dreamed of trekking in Baca Ranch's untouched, wildlife-thick backcountry. You'll soon get your chance.

Albuquerque's Magic Mountain

Albuquerque's backyard wilderness lets hikers perform a disappearing trick.

Quest For The Jackalope

Is the legendary jackalope the most endangered species in the Lower 48 or just an old cowboy tale that refuses to die?

El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico

Frozen fire shaped by cataclysmic forces and the footsteps of the ancient ones.

Bisti Wilderness, New Mexico

Watch for ghosts among the mushroom-shaped rocks in this weird, lovely landscape.

Splendor In New Mexico's Mills Canyon

Mills Canyon is a hidden treasure where you can bushwhack through history.

Stargazing In New Mexico's White Sands

The lunarlike landscape and dark skies of this preserve make White Sands one of the best places for star watching.

Texas' Guadalupe Range

If you think west Texas is nothing but tumbleweeds and cattle, you haven't walked 62 miles across one of the world's most famous geological formations.

New Mexico's Latir Peak Wilderness

Hikers often overlook the the quiet meadows, wildflowers, and mountaintops of New Mexico's Latir Wilderness. Their loss is your gain.

New Mexico's White Mountain Wilderness

High, cool peaks rise over 7,000 feet above the desert flats in New Mexico's White Mountain Wilderness.

New Mexico's Pecos Wilderness

In New Mexico's Pecos Wilderness, it's just you and the bighorn sheep looking down on the world.

Columbine Canyon Trail, New Mexico

Thirteen miles in the spectacular Sangre De Cristos.