Visit USA > New Mexico > Central Region

You'll find New Mexico's only metropolitan city in the Central Region. Albuquerque, founded in 1706, still preserves its history in the Old Town area, where visitors can enjoy shops, galleries, and the arts, crafts and foods sold by vendors and artisans who surround the plaza daily. Before the city was founded, El Camino Real de Tierra-Adentro passed through the area. This 1800-mile Royal Road, used by Spaniards more than 400 years ago, ran from Mexico City to what is now the Santa Fe/Taos area. Hundreds of years before the arrival of the Europeans, Puebloan people used the same trail for communication and trade. El Camino Real followed the route that is now I-25. New Mexico's partner arterial to I-25, I-40, replaced a more contemporary historic road, the legendary Route 66.

With two interstate highways crossing in the middle of the state, visitors can easily experience both the natural and man-made attractions in the region. The Jémez, Zia, Santa Ana, Sandia, Isleta, Santa Domingo, San Felipe and Cochití Pueblos are all located in the area. Each pueblo has much for visitors to explore, including Las Vegas-style casinos, golf courses, visitor centers and more.

In addition to the cultural history provided by the Native Americans in the area, travelers can enjoy the prehistoric landscape. Once under the water of an ancient ocean, New Mexico's Central Region boasts plenty of hiking, camping and natural sightseeing areas, including the Sandía, Manzano and Jémez mountains, the Rio Grande and the farming communities of Los Lunas and Belén, where many spots along the river serve as refuge for migrating birds.

For a bird's-eye view of the Sandía mountains, so named because of their watermelon (sandía in Spanish) color at sunset, visitors can ride the Sandía Peak Tramway. The world's longest tramway, it rises 2.7 miles above the city, giving riders an 11,000-square-mile panoramic view of the state. For more aerial excitement, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta takes place every October and now December. The mass ascension of hundreds of balloons at dawn every day of the fiesta should not be missed.