Visit Alamogordo, NM

This was day 4 of our Southwest Road-Trip and today's plan is to drive the 209 miles from our hotel in Albuquerque to Alamogordo, NM. Just prior to entering Alamogordo, we saw McGinn's PistachioLand Farm and decided to stop and stretch. Even though the Interstate speed limit out here is 75mph, there is only so much sitting that one can deal with before it becomes imperative to stop the car and do some walking!

The Chihuahuan Desert contains the World's Largest Pistachio! Towering over 30 feet tall, this giant nut caught our eye as we were driving south and we decided to stop and explore the store.

Inside their country store their pistachio selection is impressive, with flavors ranging from classic roasted and salted to adventurous options like green chile and ranch. They offer pistachio candies and ice cream – which we had and we enjoyed it.

The McGinn family started their 90 acre pistachio orchard in 1980. Today, the orchard contains over 12,500 trees. 14 acres of grapes are also grown at Pistachio Tree Ranch and 18 different varieties of wine are made at McGinn's Arena Blanca Winery on site.

We drove south from Albuquerque on I-25 and then east on route 380 to Carizozo where we then turned south on U.S. 54. The point of all these directions is that we began to notice somewhere after we passed Three Rivers and before we reached Tularosa, that there was a large amount of white sand off to the west of the highway - That was our first sight of White Sands National Park. The sand is so incredibly white, that it stands out distinctly on the horizon. After Tularosa and all the way into Alamogordo the White Sands were always visible on the horizon.

Can you imagine sprawling dunes of glistening white gypsum crystals - the largest such gypsum dunefield (275 square miles) on Earth? You can hike or sled the smooth slopes, feeling the surprisingly cool sand beneath your feet. With its unique beauty and ample space for exploration, White Sands National Park promised us an adventure.

Dunes Drive Closed at Mile Marker 3: This limited how far we could drive into the park, but we found that we got all of our goals met by stopping at the Dune Life Nature Area and walking into the sand dunes. The white sand is very fine and difficult to get traction in! The Dune Life Nature Trail is a 1.6 kilometer loop, but because the temperature had risen to over 92 degrees, and the sun was reflected by the white sand, we walked perhaps only a half mile before departing.

• National Park Service Page for White Sands National Park
• White Sands National Park Wikipedia Article
• Get Your Guide White Sands National Park Audio Tour
• White Sands National Park Google Images Set
• White Sands National Park on Amazon
• Google Reviews for "White Sands National Park"
• Our Youtube Channel

In the trip menu list below, a "dark filled circle" represents a destination where we stayed, and the "dark filled arrow" items below that circle location, represent the destinations we visited while in that city or location. A circle icon that is not filled represents a city that we visited or stayed in, but did not necessarily explore.

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 Trip Overview Page

 Albuquerque, NM

• Sandia Peak Tramway
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Old-Town Albuquerque
• National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

 Alamogordo, NM

• McGinn's PistachioLand Farm
• White Sands National Park

 Carlsbad, NM

• Tunnel Vista Observation Site
• Trestle Depot Recreation Area
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park

 Roswell, NM

• International UFO Museum

 Santa Fe, NM

• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, NM
• Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, NM
• Ojo Santa Fe Spa Resort, NM
• Bradbury Science Museum - Los Alamos, NM
• Los Alamos, NM
• Bandelier National Monument, NM
• Nambé Falls, NM
• Meow Wolf, NM

 Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM

 Bisti Badlands, NM

 Monument Valley

 Grand Canyon, AZ

• Planning Your Grand Canyon Visit
• Grand Canyon South Rim Top Sites and Itineraries
• Grand Canyon El Tovar Hotel

 Sedona, AZ