New Mexico

The Bandera ice cave is fed by rain water and snow melt that seeps into the cave and never exceeds 31F. The floor of the ice is 20 feet thick with the oldest ice dating back 3,400 years. The ice was mined by both Indians and early settlers.

The Bandera ice cave is fed by rain water and snow melt that seeps into the cave and never exceeds 31F. The floor of the ice is 20 feet thick with the oldest ice dating back 3,400 years. The ice was mined by both Indians and early settlers.

The Bandera ice cave is fed by rain water and snow melt that seeps into the cave and never exceeds 31F. The floor of the ice is 20 feet thick with the oldest ice dating back 3,400 years. The ice was mined by both Indians and early settlers.

The Bandera volcano is a cinder cone. When the earth cracked open high pressure lava began spraying out. The molten rock hardened in mid-air and fall back down to earth as cinders. As the eruption continued, the cinder cone got larger and larger. This is the view across the crater.

Examples of the lava flow from the Bandera volcano.

At a small rise in Highway #12 at mile post 13.5 the view of the highway with big puffy April clouds makes for an inviting trip through New Mexico.

At a small rise in Highway #12 at mile post 13.5 the view of the highway with big puffy April clouds makes for an inviting trip through New Mexico.

The wide open desert at miles post 36 along Highway #32.

The Mogollon (mo-go-yon) culture built 40 rooms inside six natural caves using rock, mortar and timber from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. They were hunters, gathers and farmers. By 1300 they had moved on.

The Mogollon (mo-go-yon) culture built 40 rooms inside six natural caves using rock, mortar and timber from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. They were hunters, gathers and farmers. By 1300 they had moved on.

The Mogollon (mo-go-yon) culture built 40 rooms inside six natural caves using rock, mortar and timber from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. They were hunters, gathers and farmers. By 1300 they had moved on.

The Mogollon (mo-go-yon) culture built 40 rooms inside six natural caves using rock, mortar and timber from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. They were hunters, gathers and farmers. By 1300 they had moved on.

The Mogollon (mo-go-yon) culture built 40 rooms inside six natural caves using rock, mortar and timber from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. They were hunters, gathers and farmers. By 1300 they had moved on.

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #4 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area.

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #4 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area. .

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #4 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area.

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #4 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area. .

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #5 is called the Natural Amphitheater which is a wall of lava that forms a circular ridge around a relatively flat bottom called an inflation ridge

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #7 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area.

Within the El Malpais National Monument, this lava flow came from the McCartys Crater 3,000 years ago. Stop #4 on the trail through the Lava Falls Area.

The town of Magdalena, known as 'the end of the trail' for cattle drives.

Magdalena is the official "end of the trail" for cattle drives that took livestock to these still standing stockyards for transport by train to far away markets. The last 'cattle drive' ended in the early 1970's.

Magdalena is the official "end of the trail" for cattle drives that took livestock to these still standing stockyards for transport by train to far away markets. The last 'cattle drive' ended in the early 1970's.

Magdalena is the official "end of the trail" for cattle drives that took livestock to these still standing stockyards for transport by train to far away markets. The last 'cattle drive' ended in the early 1970's.

Magdalena is the official "end of the trail" for cattle drives that took livestock to these still standing stockyards for transport by train to far away markets. The last 'cattle drive' ended in the early 1970's.

The Sandstone Bluffs along Hwy. 117 offer excellent vistas of El Malpais lava flows and surrounding countryside.

The Sandstone Bluffs along Hwy. 117 offer excellent vistas of El Malpais lava flows and surrounding countryside.

The Sandstone Bluffs along Hwy. 117 offer excellent vistas of El Malpais lava flows and surrounding countryside.

The La Ventana Natural Arch is the largest of New Mexico’s readily reached natural arches. It was eroded from sandstone dating back to the age of dinosaurs.

Oak stands ready for spring with Colorado juniper finding shelter in its shade grow along Apache Creek paralleling Highway #32.