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Northeast Attractions and Travel Guide
The Northeast region of New Mexico is sparsely populated, but it has more than its share of legendary past, which is well-recorded in the state's annals of history. A modern journey in any direction affords beautiful, expansive countryside and the unmistakable, engulfing feeling of living history and legend.
Many significant events have occurred throughout time in the Northeast
region, from the discovery of evidence at Folsom site that links prehistoric
man to the area to the adventurous explorations of Francisco Vázquez de
Coronado in 1540 when conquistadors viewed the moon cresting over some
rock outcroppings while 
camped at Puerto de Luna near Santa Rosa.
Later, as Plains Indians wandered throughout the area, merchants and travelers
on the Santa Fe Trail forged through the region and named many landmarks
along the way, such as Wagon Mound, Rabbit Ear Mountain, Point of Rocks
and the Tooth of Time in the eastern Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Cimarrón.
Although the Santa Fe Trail and later the coming of the railroad in the 1880s brought some degree of American refinement to this frontier territory, a barbarous existence was not to be denied. Many characters right from the book of the Wild West made a name for themselves in these parts.
Billy the Kid was known to ride through here and a whole host of other gunslingers and outlaws downed whiskey and let the bullets fly at the St. James Hotel in Cimarrón, which still has evidence from those wilder times of more than a century ago. A visit to Las Vegas will take you to streets that have seen more than their share of historical and contemporary characters, including President Theodore Roosevelt, Gov. Lew Wallace, Vicente Silva, Prince Charles, Tom Mix and many others.
The natural world dominates the Northeast region, especially at Capulín
Volcano National Monument, an extinct volcanic cone with a road to the
top, where Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas are clearly visible. And every
spring and fall a variety of magnificent waterfowl and birds of prey can
be seen making their seasonal sky commutes and stopovers at Las Vegas National
Wildlife Refuge.
The eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains metamorphose into rolling plains in this region, creating many water oases. Scuba divers from around the world plunge into the Blue Hole, an 81-foot-deep clear pool in Santa Rosa that maintains a 63-degree temperature year-round. Fishermen and water sports enthusiasts also relish a number of lakes in the area with names like Conchas, Eagle Nest, Maloya, Maxwell, McAllister, Morphy, Springer, Storrie and Ute, among others.
For more information on traveling in this area of the state, visit the regional tourism authority, Northeast New Mexico, at www.nenewmexico.com.
Northeastern Cities: Abbott, Amistad, Angel Fire, Anton Chico, Bard, Bell Ranch, Bernal, Blanchard, Buena Vista, Bueyeros, Capulin, Chacon, Chama, Chapelle, Cimarron, Clayton, Cleveland, Conchas, Cuervo, Des Moines, Eagle Nest, Folsom, Garita, Gladstone, Glenrio, Grenville, Guadalupita, Holman, La Loma, Las Vegas, Ledoux, Logan, Maxwell, McAlister, Miami, Mills, Montezuma, Mora, Mosquero, Mount Dora, Nara Visa, Newkirk, Ocate, Ojo Feliz, Pastura, Puerto De Luna, Quay, Rainsville, Raton, Ribera, Rociada, Rodarte, Rowe, Roy, San Jon, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sapello, Sedan, Seneca, Soham, Solano, Springer, Stead, Trementina, Tucumcari, Ute Park, Valmora, Wagon Mound, Watrous