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Southwest Attractions and Travel Guide
The warm climes, wide-open vistas and majestic landmarks within New Mexico's Southwest region contribute greatly to the many legends woven into the fabric of this fascinating area.
The name of the region's largest and the state's second-largest city,
Las Cruces, means "the crosses" in Spanish. 
According to legend,
it was named after a cluster of crosses that marked the graves of a group
of travelers from Taos who were killed by Apaches in 1830.
Just down the road in La Mesilla, Old World charm dominates the Plaza, where Confederate soldiers defiantly rose their flag during the Civil War, proclaiming the village as their capital of both New Mexico and Arizona.
Just north off I-25 lies Hatch, which calls itself the Chile Capital of the World. The small farming community produces the majority of the state's most legendary agricultural bounty, which is craved worldwide - and worshipped in the Land of Enchantment!
West of Las Cruces is Deming, the home of a duck race that humbly began in the early 1980s as a means to bolster the town's image and has grown into a much-anticipated annual event - on the fast quack to gaining mythic status.
In frontier days many legendary mountain men lived and died farther north in the Gila Mountains, a portion of which was the nation's first designated wilderness area and where ancient Indians carved cliffside communities at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Billy the Kid spent his youth at nearby Silver City.
Tales of gold aren't denied in the Southwest region 
as numerous mining
towns here went boom then bust, their weathered shells still inspiring
contemporary romantics interested in the legendary mother lode. In the
heart of this mining mecca is the cow town of Magdalena, home of the Magdalena
Stock Driveway and Shipping Pens situated at the end of what once was the
longest cattle trail in New Mexico.
Elephant Butte Lake and Caballo Reservoir lie in close proximity to Jornada del Muerto, or journey of the dead man, a dreaded section of El Camino Real that claimed the lives of many travelers. Nearby is Truth or Consequences, a community that gained world fame when it changed its name from Hot Springs at the urging of Ralph Edwards, the host of a popular game show.
Every spring and fall, New Mexico's beautiful skies fill with migrating waterfowl and other species of birds at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro.
For more information on traveling in this area of the state, visit the regional tourism authority, Old West Country, at www.oldwestcountry.com/.
Southwestern Cities: Animas, Anthony, Aragon, Arenas Valley, Arrey, Bayard, Berino, Bingham, Buckhorn, Caballo, Central, Chamberino, Chaparral, Cliff, Columbus, Datil, Deming, Derry, Dona Ana, Elephant Butte, Fairacres, Fort Bayard, Garfield, Gila, Glenwood, Hachita, Hanover, Hatch, Hillsboro, Hurley, La Joya, La Mesa, Las Cruces, Lemitar, Lordsburg, Luna, Magdalena, Mesilla, Mesilla Park, Mesquite, Mimbres, Monticello, Mule Creek, Organ, Pinos Altos, Playas, Polvadera, Quemado, Radium Springs, Redrock, Reserve, Rincon, Roadfolks, Rodeo, Salem, San Acacia, San Antonio, San Lorenzo, San Miguel, Santa Clara, Silver City, Socorro, Sunland Park, Truth Or Consequences, Tyrone, Vado, White Sands Missle Range, Williamsburg, Winston