When planning a vacation for the family, it can be difficult to find fun activities for the children. New Mexico is located in the southwest part of the country and is well-known for its deserts, rich culture and close borders with Mexico. The state features many vacation entities including resorts; amusement parks and educational adventures, like zoos and parks, that kids would find entertaining.
In New Mexico there are resorts designed for winter activities or summer activities. Popular winter activities offered at resorts include skiing, skating, snowboarding and tubing. For summer, activities include swimming (with waterslides), hiking, fishing, horseback riding, tennis, basketball, white water rafting and bicycling.
For smaller children, many resorts, such as the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort in Santa Ana Pueblo, offer children's programs which include organized activities with supervision. The resort features Camp Hyatt, which is for children ages 3 to 12 and includes pottery making using local culture traditions, creating sand paintings, learning about animals, playing games in the waterpark and listening to cowboy storytellers.
Another resort kids would enjoy is the Bishops Lodge Resort in Santa Fe, which features Camp Appaloosa--a children's program for kids ages 5 to 11 that includes ponyrides, art and crafts, nature hikes, water games (slip and slides and water balloon fights) and kite flying.
Hyatt Regency Tamaya
1300 Tuyuna Trail
Santa Ana Pueblo, NM 87004
505-867-1234
tamaya.hyatt.com
Bishops Lodge Resort
1297 Bishop's Lodge Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505-983-6377
bishopslodge.com/
Amusement parks in New Mexico include Cliff's Amusement Park and Western Playland Amusement. Cliff's is located in Albuquerque and features thrill rides, water rides, family rides, a Kiddieland and games. The park has rides such as the New Mexico Rattler (the states only supercoaster), Water Monkey's Adventure (wading pool and water game area for kids), and Baja Buggy (kiddie land buggy cars).
Western Playland in Sunland Park consists of family rides like the Skyglider, Miner Coaster, Tilt-a-Whirl and the Yo-Yo (flying swings). There is a section with kiddie rides as well, which includes the Froghopper, U-boats, U-cars, Merry-go-round and Train (around the park).
Cliff's Amusement Park
4800 Osuna Road Northeast
Albuquerque, NM 87109-2314
505-881-9373
cliffsamusementpark.com
Western Playland
1249 Futurity Drive
Sunland Park, NM 88063
505-589-3410
westernplayland.com
New Mexico is full of educational vacation destinations like museums, zoos and parks. Museums throughout the state for children include the Explora Science Center & Children's Museum in Albuquerque, The American International Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque, The Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos (with many hands-on and learning activities) and New Mexico Museum of Space History (featuring an IMAX theater-a wraparound planetarium and field trips/summer camp for kids). The Alameda Park Zoo in Alamogordo is also a place children would enjoy, as it features roughly 300 animals, including monkeys, deer, otters, endangered wolves and otters spread out over seven acres.
Albuquerque Biological Park holds the facilities of the Rio Grande Zoo, Rio Grande Botanical Garden, Albuquerque Aquarium and Tingley Beach. The aquarium consists of a journey down the Rio Grande river to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico to view ocean, swallow waters, and riverine animals. There is also a massive ocean tank with eels, jellyfish, and sharks (nurse, blacktip and sandtiger). The zoo is 64 acres with over 250 species of animals and the botanical gardens, which is the largest cottonwood gallery forest in the world and is considered "An oasis in the desert". Tingley Beach, the newest addition to the biopark, consists of a model boating pond, three fishing lakes and pedal boat/bike rentals (summer only).
Albuquerque Biological Park
2601 Central Avenue NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
505-764-6200
cabq.gov
Alameda Park Zoo
1376 North White Sands Boulevard
Alamogordo, NM 88310-6659
505-439-4290
alamogordo.nm.us/coa/communityservices/zoo.htm
American International Rattlesnake Museum
202 San Felipe NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104-1442
505-242-6569
rattlesnakes.com
The Bradbury Science Museum
1350 Central Ave
Los Alamos, NM 87544
505- 667-4444
lanl.gov
Explora Science Center & Children's Museum
1701 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
505-224-8300
explora.mus.nm.us
New Mexico Museum of Space History
NM Highway 2001
Alamogordo, NM 88311-5430
575-437-7722
nmspacemuseum.org
