The Heart And Soul Of New Mexico Is The Small Towns And These 7 Have The Best Downtown Areas

New Mexico has a little bit of everything. From towering mountains and forests, all the way to deserts that look like alien landscapes, America’s fifth largest state by land has extremely diverse landscapes. Spread among these landscapes are towns with unique shops, restaurants, and culture, many of which can be experienced by walking through the relatively small downtown areas. Check out some of our favorite downtowns in New Mexico below.

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Chimayó is located 25 miles north of Santa Fe, with a population of about 3,000. The town is known for its many traditional crafts including weaving, tin smithing, and wood carving, which drive much of the tourism in this town. Some families have operated weaving businesses here for generations.

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Taos can be found in Northern New Mexico close to the Colorado border. Well known for the Taos mountains, thousands flock to Taos every year to ski, mountain bike, and fish.

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Silver City started as a mining town, and still operates today as a mining town with roughly 10 percent of the city's population working in the industry. The city also hosts an annual Blues Festival which is famous throughout the state.

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Pojoaque is home to the first Spanish Mission, San Francisco de Pojaque. Today, the city is well known for the Poeh Museum, which is dedicated to the arts and culture of the Puebloan people.

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Santa Fe is technically a city, but the downtown is too cool to ignore. Considered one of the world's great art cities, downtown Santa Fe is the perfect place to spend days wandering among the art galleries and exhibitions.

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Roswell is well known for its UFO encounters. In 1947, the crash of an alleged UFO happened outside Roswell, and today, many of Roswell's businesses have adopted the alien-theme making for a fascinating walk through town.

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Santa Rosa is known as "The Scuba Diving Capital of the Southwest" thanks to the Blue Hole, an 81-feet deep spring that is popular for swimming and diving year-round.

Did your favorite New Mexico town make the list? Let us know what your favorite New Mexico towns are and what your go-to favorite shops and restaurants in those town are!