Las Cruces

Las Cruces has some degree of public transportation by the city bus line RoadRUNNER Transit. Service is limited to Monday through Saturday and ends by 7:30 in the evening. Buses can carry bicycles. Otherwise, just plan to drive, bike, or walk.

• 🌍 New Mexico State University. It is in Las Cruces, with an interesting museum or two, a large conference center, and a comfortable student union. 
  • University Museum, ☏ +1 575-646-5161. Tu-Sa noon-4PM. In Kent Hall at NMSU. Emphasis on local archaeology and culture. Free, but donations accepted. 
  • Zuhl Collection. M-F noon-4PM, except holidays. In the Alumni Center at NMSU. Fossils, minerals, and petrified wood. Free. 
• 🌍 New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Rd, ☏ +1 575 522-4100. M-Sa 9AM-5PM, Su noon-5PM. East of NMSU on the way out into the countryside. This is a fairly substantial site based on a working cattle ranch, with demonstrations. You can spend half a day here; there are picnic tables as well as food available for purchase. $3 (student and senior discounts). 
• 🌍 Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St, ☏ +1 575 541-2155. Tu-F 10AM-4:30PM, Sa 9AM-4:30PM. A small museum dealing with local history. Free. (updated Mar 2021)
• 🌍 Museum of Art, 491 N Main St (next to the Branigan), ☏ +1 575 541-2137. Tu-F 10AM-4:30PM, Sa 9AM-4:30PM. Predominantly contemporary art with a regional emphasis. Free. (updated Mar 2021)
• 🌍 Las Cruces Museum of Natural History, 411 N Main St, ☏ +1 575 522-3120. Includes a small collection of live animals. 7 days, with evening hours on Friday; free, but donations requested. 
• 🌍 Las Cruces Railroad Museum, 351 N Mesilla St (in the historic Santa Fe Depot), ☏ +1 575 647-4480. Th-Sa 10AM-4PM. The museum interprets the impact of the railroad on the Mesilla Valley and Las Cruces. Free. (updated Feb 2020)
• 🌍 Mesilla. It is a separate town just to the west of Las Cruces which is an older settlement than Las Cruces and contains a historic district with numerous adobe buildings surrounding a plaza and the adjoining church. A visitors center is located at 2231 Avenida de Mesilla, in the Mesilla town hall. 
• 🌍 Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, ☏ +1 575 523-4398. Daily 7:30AM-4:30PM. (updated Feb 2018)

• 🌍 Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, 15000 Dripping Springs Rd, ☏ +1 575 522-1219. 8AM-5PM. Just east of town offer good hiking and rock climbing. Follow University Avenue east from NMSU past the Farm and Ranch museum to one of the primary trailheads, in a small park (fee) with interpretive exhibit. Trails lead from here into the mountains. Some campground space is available (additional fee). The Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument was established May 21, 2014. $3. (updated Feb 2020)
• 🌍 Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. Free. (updated Apr 2020)

The best place to buy Native American art or other characteristic types of durable mementos is in the nearby town of Mesilla. If you want something to remember your visit by, one idea is food, specifically chile peppers, which are grown in abundance in the Mesilla Valley. The long strings of red chiles that you see hanging from porches, gables, etc., are called ristras and are available for purchase at many locations. These are largely for ornamental purposes, but edible chiles are also widely available, with spiciness levels ranging from mild to downright inedible (New Mexico State University has a substantial chile research program that grows peppers so hot that they function as bug repellents).

If in town in late summer or fall, make a pilgrimage to the outlying town of Hatch on I-25 to the north. Hatch is the center of the chile-growing business and has several shops with chile paraphernalia. Better, it hosts a "Chile Festival" in early September, usually around Labor Day, that's fun to visit as well as a great source of chiles. (Hatch is a tiny town with little or no lodging, so you'll want to stay in Las Cruces and make a day trip to the Festival.) If you're getting your chiles for cooking rather than ornamentation, and can get them home/in a freezer quickly, get them roasted while you're there; roasting is a key step in preparation for the table, and doing it in a Hatch roaster will save you all manner of peculiar odors resulting from doing the roasting at home.

For more pedestrian, day-to-day purchases, Las Cruces has all of the usual shopping associated with a town of 80,000. Mesilla Valley Mall is off I-25 just north of NMSU.

• 🌍 Mesilla Valley Mall, 700 S Telshor Blvd, ☏ +1 575-522-1001. (updated Mar 2021)

• 🌍 D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro, 1720 Avenida De Mesilla, ☏ +1 575 524-2408. Warm atmosphere, live music, great food and wine selection. French country menu includes interesting appetizers like European cheese plates that pair wonderfully with flights of wine. Entres include dinner salads, fish, steak, pastas, and more. 
• University Avenue, on the north side of NMSU, has the usual assortment of student-oriented eateries, with the usual properties for such places: lots of food, reasonable prices, less than haute cuisine. Some, by no means all, of the restaurants along University are:
  • 🌍 Lorenzo's, 1753 E. University, ☏ +1 575 521-3505. Italian; lunch and dinner. Also has a location in Mesilla and a new location in the shopping center on Lohman & Roadrunner. 
• Old Mesilla. To the southwest of Las Cruces is on the El Camino Real traveled by Onate and Coronado and is the home of many restaurants. 
  • 🌍 Double Eagle, 2355 Calle de Guadalupe (Mesilla), ☏ +1 575-523-6700, fax: +1 575-523-0051. More of an upscale restaurant. Standard New Mexican fare and locally-inspired dishes. One of the few places in town that serves aged steak. Supposedly haunted, local lore says star-crossed lovers perished here and continue to visit one of the dining rooms. Their bar has an extensive liquor selection, suitable for all tastes. The ambiance is almost unmatched in the area. The Sunday brunch is a popular choice. 
  • 🌍 Andele, 1950 Calle del Norte, ☏ +1 575-526-9631. Mexican with a salsa bar. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Check out the green chile pork enchiladas, tacos al cabon and roasted jalapenos. 
  • 🌍 El Paisano Cafe, 1740 Calle de Mercado, ☏ +1 575-524-0211. New Mexican food with a European flair; Seasonal dishes using fresh ingredients. Open breakfast, lunch and dinner. 
• 🌍 Chope's Bar and Cafe, 16145 S Hwy 28, La Mesa, ☏ +1 575-233-3420. It offers the best rellenos in New Mexico. The restaurant is located approximately 12 mi (19 km) scenic south of University Ave on Highway 28, which winds through the Stahmann's Pecan orchards. 
• 🌍 High Desert Brewery, 1201 W. Hadley Avenue (just off Valley (head east)), ☏ +1 575-525-6752. Microbrew beer and excellent food. Try their seasonal brews (Hefeweizen in summer and Holiday Ale in winter are choice) and order their outstanding nachos. Beware, the portions (especially on the nachos!) tend to run large, ask your server for advice. Open for lunch, dinner, and a pre-bed beer. Live music many nights, but no cover, ever. 
• 🌍 Si Señor, 1551 E Amador Ave, ☏ +1 575-527-0817. Best chips & salsa in town (available to-go). You will not be hungry leaving Si Señor. 
• 🌍 Renoo's Thai Time, 16151 Hwy 70 E, ☏ +1 575-993-3451. Great Thai food in Organ up the hill east of Las Cruces. Prices are moderate and servings are very large. A great addition and worth the drive. 

A fine place for a drink or nightlife is in Old Mesilla, to the southwest of Las Cruces:

• 🌍 El Patio, Old Mesilla Plaza. The main bar in town. Live music. Unique smell. 

• 🌍 The Lundeen Inn of the Arts, 618 S. Alameda Blvd.. Beautiful bed and breakfast housed in an art gallery. From $80. 
• 🌍 Best Western Mission Inn, 1765 S. Main St, ☏ +1 575 524-8591. Adequate if unexceptional lodging in a commercial area; not adjacent to NMSU, but still reasonably convenient for visitors to the university. Rooms from $55. 
• 🌍 Comfort Suites, 2101 S. Triviz Dr, ☏ +1 575 522-1300. More adequate, unexceptional lodging. From $60. 
• 🌍 Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, 705 South Telshor Blvd (off of I-25 to Lohman exit), ☏ +1 575 522-4300. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. A full-service pet friendly hotel near the convention center. Meeting & wedding facilities, swimming pool, restaurant & bar. (updated Feb 2017)
• 🌍 Ramada de Las Cruces, 201 East University Ave, ☏ +1 575 526-4411. Newly remodeled, and rooms include breakfast. From $60. 
• 🌍 SpringHill Suites Las Cruces, 1611 Hickory Loop (off of I-10 & Avenida de Mesilla, Exit 140), ☏ +1 575-541-8887. All-suite hotel. (updated Feb 2017)

• El Paso is about 45 mi (72 km) away via I-10, and Juarez, Mexico slightly beyond.
• White Sands National Park is less than an hour's drive from Las Cruces.
• Ski Apache is about 90 mi (140 km) away. Decent skiing just past the town of Ruidoso.
• White Sands Missile Range is a short detour on the way to White Sands National Park and has a missile museum.
• New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo is great for young space exploration enthusiasts - especially the shuttle flight simulator.
• Cloudcroft is about 85 mi (137 km) away with breathtaking views and mountains.
• If you're in the vicinity in the latter part of August, consider driving 60 mi (97 km) west on I-10 to the Great American Duck Race -- seriously -- in the small town of Deming.
• Truth or Consequences, about 70 mi (110 km) north of Las Cruces and commonly called "T or C," has traveler-friendly hot springs. The new Spaceport America -- again, seriously! -- will be constructed about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of T or C, and should be easily accessible from Las Cruces.