Anyone familiar with Gallup, NM? Raton?

[medalguy]

Originally Posted by ChrisPBacon

Do you mean Route 566?

US 666 was renamed US 491 a few years back. Seems some people were upset about the 666 being the "mark of the devil."

[ChrisPBacon]

Originally Posted by medalguy

Los Alamos technical areas are a secure facility. There are no "tours" available of the lab property, except a walking tour of some of the downtown area including the Bradbury Museum and Bathtub Row. There is also the Los Alamos History Museum open to the public.

As I suspected. Pre-9/11, you could take a public of Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Today, you can drive by and wave bye-bye to your tax dollars inside the fence, yanno?

[mnoland30]

The Ice Caves are interesting, and there is a wolf sanctuary near Ramah. We hunted the Chain of Craters and the scenery was great, we found lots of elk antlers, and saw lots of elk and turkey. Just know that the roads turn to slick clay with the rain.

The Bisti Badlands has lots of interesting formations, and Chaco Canyon is pretty cool, but not as scenic as Canyon de Chelly.

[tgonza]

I'm from Gallup and also have done a fair amount of photography around the area. There are some beautiful red rocks around Gallup and there is a big pine forest, McGaffey, about 20 miles south with elk, pronghorn, deer, etc. The Navajo reservation borders Gallup and the tribal capital is about 30 miles north. Lot of good scenery there. Are you planning on staying at a campground? If so, the Red Rock State Park on the east end of town is really nice, right up against the red rocks. McGaffey also has campgrounds in the pines, not sure what kind of accommodations however. I've attached a few photos of the area.

[Lindewoman]

Zuni Pueblo is very interesting, but they keep to themselves. Just west of Zuni is a wolf sanctuary where you can boondocks and listen to them in the night! Also to the east is El Morro National Monument, a butte with ruins on top and signatures on the bottom. El Malpais National Monument is rugged lava ridges and piles and tunes. All have great photo potential. I think the area is more attractive than Gallup.

[DanielWade54]

I was there in Gallop New Mexico. The neatest thing I saw was on the second floor of the hotel were signed and autographed photos of stars who were in movies out there and stayed at the hotel. They had quite of a collection.