Make the most of your time in Las Cruces, New Mexico with this simple travel guide based on our adventures.

We worked in a very small town about an hour away from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Since our town had very little to offer we made frequent weekend trips to Las Cruces.

Every weekend trip we fell more in love with this little Southern New Mexico city. If you have never heard of Las Cruces, it's time to give it a visit.

Disclosure: Links throughout the Mindful Nomadics site may make us a small commission at no additional cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclosure for more information.

Where to Stay

La Quinta

There are not a lot of hotel options in Las Cruces but there are not one but two La Quintas. We stayed at the one deemed "Organ Mountain" and it was perfect.

We stayed an entire week in Las Cruces during the holiday season and since La Quinta allows cats, it was the best option. The cats loved it thanks to all the furniture they could climb on.

Since we stayed an entire week we brought blankets from home to make it feel more "homey" for us and the cats. Having a lot of space in our room made it feel open during our stay.

Where to Eat

Luna Rossa Winery and Pizzeria

As you probably gleaned from the name, this place has both pizza and wine so what more could you want? Then to make it even better they serve gelato!

The menu has a big variety of home-cooked Italian dishes. Even though we were craving pizza we changed our minds last second and got pasta and a spicy Italian panini.

There is an extensive wine list made by their winery. We did a wine flight and it was the prettiest wine flight we've ever seen.

D.H. Lescombes Winery and Bistro

The best part about going to a winery for a meal is that it's two events in one: Food and a wine tasting!

D.H. Lescombes Winery has several New Mexico locations including Deming and Albuquerque in addition to Las Cruces. There is also a Santa Fe location known as "Hervé Wine Bar".

The main reason we decided to give this winery a try was all of our coworkers raving about their "Hatch Chili wine". New Mexico and Hatch Chili just go together so it's fitting for a New Mexico winery.

There is a sweeter Hatch Green Chili wine but we preferred the spicier Hatch Red Chili wine. Both are surprisingly tasty for such unique flavoring.

What to Do

Fitness Court

There is a fitness playground that anyone can use FOR FREE in Las Cruces. Since we always try to stay healthy while traveling this is a perfect find

The equipment is set up for stations so you can follow their work out routine. Or you can just make up your own rules as we did.

The coolest part was the rings which Kelsey had to try some acrobatics. Phil's favorite was the boxes at different heights for box jumps.

Unidad Park

We don't have any kids but we are big kids at heart. Unidad is the coolest playground we have ever seen.

We're talking a wooden castle paradise filled with obstacle courses and slides. We probably spent hours here just hopping around from structure to structure.

Hiking

One thing we love about visiting New Mexico is the hikes available. The dry heat and views of the desert make for amazing hiking views.

There are several hikes within a drivable distance from Las Cruces. All of which would be perfect for a Saturday morning workout.

Picacho Peak

In the medical field, we do something called a name alert. It's where an alert comes up or something is used to signify patients who have similar names so will you be extra careful.

Picacho Peak has a name alert. There are others located in Arizona and Santa Fe but you are looking for the one near Las Cruces.

The official name is Picacho Peak Recreational Area-Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument.

Kelsey found this trail and wanted to give it a try. She misread the trail thinking it was going to be "an easy light hike".

Turns out it was a decently steep two-mile round trip. It's a beautiful hike but try to wear hiking boots instead of gym shoes as we did.

Rock Hound State Park

Even though this is hike is an hour's drive outside of town, the views and seclusion are worth it. There is an RV campground and an easy under two-mile hike located just past the visitor center.

Most people describe this area as the "Little Florida Mountains". Even though the views are great, there isn't a "summit" but instead several viewpoints.

Spring Canyon

We'll be honest about this hike, we have no clue if it's called Spring Canyon or if it's part of Rock Hound State Park. What we do know is that its part of the Florida Mountains.

We did the more popular hike called Lover's Leap. It's a steep hike of about two miles but has a nice viewpoint.

El Paso

One of the ways we travel more is by checking out whats nearby. This way we can get two destinations for the price of one.

You're so close to the Texas border, you might as well pop on over to El Paso. Since El Paso is a bigger city you might be able to find more shops and restaurants to check out.

We hope our travel guide for Las Cruces, New Mexico will inspire you and help you plan your next trip. Enjoy this fun, little town in the desert. Happy Adventuring!