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Rated among the nation’s top communities for business and retirement, Las Cruces is surging into the third millennium with its sights set on keeping pace with the rapid growth of White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss, Texas, and the plans for Spaceport America. For the traveler and the potential retiree, a host of opportunities includes numerous historic sites, unique museums, galleries, a nature park and a restored downtown main street area. Unfolding across the fertile Mesilla Valley for the past century, New Mexico’s City of the Crosses now claims four excellent golf courses with another on the way. A paved bicycle and walking path stretches for miles along the river and scenic hiking trails are maintained on both sides of the Organ Mountains. Just upstream and over the mountains are cavalry forts, ghost towns, lakes and national monuments. History buffs will enjoy Fort Selden State Monument and visitor center just north of
World-class shopping and dining in the very buildings that kindled 150 years of vibrant Southwest history. Photograph a stunning plaza where the Gadsden Purchase was ratified, buildings that served the Confederate Army and the Butterfield Stage, and the courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried for murder. Take a self-guided tour, visit our museum, hike the river or bicycle through the pecan orchards on El Camino Real Scenic Byway. You’ll barely make a dent in one day, so plan to spend the night at our boutique hotel or old west bed & breakfast.
The J. Paul Taylor Visitor Center 575.524.3262
www.oldmesilla.org Town of Mesilla • P.O. Box 10 Mesilla, NM 88046
DONA ANA COUNTY EVENTS Apr 18-22 14th Annual Border Book Festival. www.borderbookfestival.org 575-523-3988 May 3-4 Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in Mesilla. www.vivamesilla.org 575-524-3262 May 24-26 So. New Mexico Wine Festival. www.nmwine.com 575-522-1232 Aug 30-31 Hatch Chile Festival. www.hatchchilefest.com 575-267-5050 Sep 13-14 Diez y Seis de Septiembre Fiesta in Mesilla. www.vivamesilla.org 575-524-3262 Sep 26-28 The Whole Enchilada Fiesta. www.enchiladafiesta.com 575-526-1938 Oct 1-5 Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo www.snmstatefair.org 575-524-8602 Oct 25-26 Dia de los Muertos at the Plaza www.vivamesilla.org 575-647-2369 Nov 1 Dia de los Muertos at the Plaza www.vivamesilla.org 575-647-2369 Nov 1-2 37th Ann. Renaissance Arts Faire. 575-523-6403 www.daarts.org Nov TBA International Mariachi Conference & Concert. www.lascrucesmariachi.org 575-525-1735 Dec 24 Christmas Carols & Luminarias on the Plaza in Mesilla. www.vivamesilla.org 575-647-2639
LOCATION Las Cruces and Old Mesilla straddle the Rio Grande at the junction of Interstate Highways 10 and 25, 46 miles north of the El Paso/Juarez international metroplex.
TOUR ROUTE Mesilla borders Las Cruces on the southwest side of IH-10. Travel east on IH-10 and exit north on IH-25 for 75 miles to Truth or Consequences.
MORE INFORMATION Las Cruces Convention and Visitors Bureau 800-343-7827 or 575-541-2444 www.lascrucescvb.org OLD WEST COUNTRY / LAS CRUCES & MESILLA
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