Located in the lower Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico, Elephant Butte Lake State Park is the state’s largest and most popular park. The 40-mile-long reservoir offers all sort of watersports, including boating, water-skiing, fishing, scuba diving, swimming and canoeing. Lovely sand beaches and quiet coves offer solitude to enjoy the beauty of nature and [...]

With the enormous snow melt from the Rocky Mountains, you would think large lakes would abound in Colorado. Oddly enough, the largest natural lake is less than a mile across. Over the past 100 years, of course, Colorado has thrown dams across many of the rivers to form reservoirs, but the state has very few [...]

Chiricahua National Monument, located in southern Arizona, is one of several “sky island” mountain ranges surrounded by expansive desert grasslands. Chiricahau was sculpted by ice, water and wind over millions of years. By far the most noticeable natural features in the monument are the rock pinnacles. Rising hundreds of feet into the air, many of [...]

Utah Lake is unique in that it is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the West and yet it lies in an arid area that receives less than 15 inches of rainfall each year. In fact, the lake is fed by the Provo River and is one of the best fishing spots in the [...]

Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and even parts of Colorado are notorious for smoking hot summer temperatures. Luckily, there are some great places to beat the heat and enjoy the beauty of nature. Here are our top 10 picks, in no particular order, to cool off! 1. Lake Havasu State Park (Arizona) Just outside of Lake [...]

While it is true that the railroads civilized the West, it was never easy. In fact, you might say it was an uphill battle — especially in Colorado. The Hell Hill Line belonging to the Moffat Railroad made its way across the Continental Divide (what the railroaders referred to as the Devil’s Backbone) over Rollins [...]

The remote region of New Mexico called the Salinas Basin has been home to a number of cultures for at least 2,000 years. Large pueblos and trade settlements of Tiwa and Tompiro speaking Puebloans grew up around the Estancia Valley and the communities thrived. In the 1580s, when Spain claimed the territory, Franciscan missionaries came [...]

Near Clovis, New Mexico, is the archeological site of Blackwater Draw. Nearly 13,000 years ago, large glaciers covered the North American continent including a large portion of the Rocky Mountains. The weather conditions during this era were cool and dry in the Southwest, but perfect for huge stands of grass to thrive. Such huge stands [...]

Like many characters attracted to the dangers of the Southwest, Sarah Bowman, nicknamed “The Great Western” was larger than life — literally. She was 6 feet 2 inches tall — highly unusual when a man’s average height in that day and age was 5′ 5″. In addition, Sarah was said to be an extremely attractive [...]

Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado, is only 31-square miles — a tiny fraction of the huge Colorado Plateau, which covers more than 500 square miles. Yet this small section packs a mighty punch. It has some of the best redrock expanses, deep canyons and sandstone towers the Southwest has to offer. Best of [...]