Southern New Mexico: hot peppers and much more spice travel discoveries in a varied land whose attractions range from sand dunes and ski slopes to colossal caverns and UFO museums

Travel America, May-June, 2005 by Dave G. Houser

The historic village of Lincoln, a few miles northeast of Ruidoso, looks much like it did when Billy the Kid and others ignited the bloody Lincoln County War of 1878. Here you can tour some 40 restored buildings, including the old courthouse from which Billy made his last escape.

Just about anyone in the southeastern plains community of Roswell can tell you the story of a farmer who discovered a downed UFO, along with the bodies of several alien beings, on his property in 1947. The "Roswell Incident" has been the subject of interminable controversy and the ongoing publicity has made the city an international focal point for UFO-related activities. There are two museums devoted to the subject and for a nominal fee you can visit the purported crash site.

Sequestered beneath a swatch of rugged desert terrain on the flanks of the Guadalupe Mountains about 27 miles south of Carlsbad, Carlsbad Caverns National Park has been New Mexico's leading visitor attraction for almost 80 years. Carlsbad's breathtaking main cavern, known as the Big Room, is the largest natural cave in North America, occupying an area roughly the size of 14 football fields. A mile-long guided tour leads visitors past an assortment of weird and wonderful limestone formations that have been millions of years in the making.

Living Desert State Park is another interesting attraction in the Carlsbad area. A zoo and botanical gardens, it features the flora and fauna of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Contact: New Mexico Department of Tourism, (800) 545-2040; www.newmex ico.org.