Outings: Grants

Running Hot and Cold

The roadside attractions along historic Route 66 that made travel such a gas for decades still await if you follow the cheerful signs pointing the way to the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano, 102 miles west of Albuquerque off scenic N.M. 53.

Sharing the same bizarre, high-elevation landscape shaped by lava as nearby El Malpais National Monument, this privately owned site boasts an interesting family history: Sheep and cattle rancher Silvestre Mirabal purchased the land for grazing in the early 1900s. Silvestre’s grandson, David, opened the lands to visitors in 1947. You can hear more about the family history behind these lands from Janet Candelaria-O’Connor, David’s daughter, at the on-site trading post/museum.

This destination is appropriately nicknamed “The Land of Fire & Ice”: In the space of an hour you can visit a 10,000-year-old volcanic caldera surrounded by lava tubes, sink holes, and twisted trees, and then a cave, the floor of which is covered with ice that began forming 3,400 years ago. Both phenomena are explained in a self-guided trail booklet.

Descending from the rim of the 800-foot-deep crater through the glassy crunch of lava rock, you catch a rare view for miles around of more than a dozen volcanoes, with mesa land in the far distance. On the crater rim, you stand at an elevation of 8,367 feet—high enough to make you feel a touch winded.

Bring a warm layer along to venture into the Ice Cave, which cools you down even in the hottest months—its temperature never climbs above 31 degrees. The ice here is 20-feet-thick; some layers of it were mined by Ancestral Puebloans, and later by saloon keepers to chill beer for a watering hole in the 1930s.

A steady stream of curious tourists on sunny weekends speaks to the on-going legacy of the Old West: a tale of homesteading, resourcefulness, friendliness to strangers, and especially endurance. Thankfully, these days the emphasis is squarely on preserving the past along with this unique destination.—Keiko Ohuma

$10 adults, $5 children. Open daily. 12000 Ice Caves Rd., (888) 423-2283, www.icecaves.com