Places hannahdedens Wants to Go

It’s hard to believe this hostile landscape was once a health resort.

Life-sized sculpture of a blue whale made of hand-recycled plastic trash.

The remains of a historic ranch house that witnessed the Civil War battle dubbed the “Gettysburg of the West.”

This high desert botanical garden is a unique display of New Mexico’s ecology and culture.

A flat-topped butte that makes a constant backdrop for Western art.

This museum started as a collection of Manhattan Projects and continues to add exhibits as they are declassified.

This innocuous New Mexico storefront was once the secret jump-off spot for Manhattan Project scientists.

Its history includes dinosaur fossils, cattle rustlers, Georgia O'Keeffe, and a mythical giant rattlesnake named Vivaron.

All that remains of this abandoned coal town is a beautiful, haunting cemetery.

A natural formation that resembles a camel resting in the New Mexico desert.

A saloon and inn that served the Wild West's most iconic figures—and is still haunted by some of them today.

Spectacular 300-foot cliffs in a lush mountain canyon.

This highest peak in New Mexico is named after an explorer who had a habit of lending his moniker to peaks.

It is intended to take one back to a stripped-down simplicity, to spend extended time both inside and out, and absorb the natural drama of the Upper Rio Grande Valley.

Secluded springs in the Rio Grande Gorge offer hot bathing beside the haunted ruins of a stagecoach stop.

Three witches are said to be buried beneath these unmarked concrete graves.

Reproductions of nine banned oil paintings coyly hidden behind a curtain in a New Mexico conference room.

This towering volcanic plug stands out among the dramatic formations that dot this otherworldly desert valley.

A strange sandstone formation in the middle of nowhere presents an interesting climbing opportunity.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

This once-popular otherworldly landscape was formed by one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history.

Colorado’s second largest natural lake was created by a landslide.

A riverside tiny house with books and other treasures galore.

A 6,888-carat piece of turquoise that bears a striking resemblance to the first President of the United States.