New Mexico
8 of the Most Walkable Towns in New Mexico
It might be easier to picture a tourist on horseback than one simply walking through wild and wide New Mexico. However, protruding from its deserts and mashed into its mountains are cozy communities that are certifiably walkable. Their stroll-worthy spectacles range from an ancient Indigenous pueblo or a historic opera house to a macabre spa and a Wild West-style jail. See where to find these features and how to get to them on foot in the Land of Enchantment.
Las Vegas
The other walkable Vegas, Las Vegas, New Mexico, pleases pedestrians not with casinos and resorts but antique stores and colonial abodes. The former sites can be reached in the Old Town, Las Vegas Plaza and Bridge Street Historic Districts, while the latter sites populate El Distrito de Las Escuelas.
Those districts plus three others are explorable via the Historic Walking Tour, whose online guidebook describes the history of the districts and their contributing buildings, such as Our Lady of Sorrows Church (a sandstone Catholic church built circa 1852 to replace the old church, whose adobe nave still stands) and the Rheua Pearce Houses (adobe rowhomes built circa 1846 and later inhabited by the titular town icon). As a bonus, many of the structures on the tour house modern businesses. Catch a new release at the Indigo Theatre in an architectural relic of pre-statehood New Mexico.
Silver City
As a place alternately occupied by Indigenous peoples, Spanish colonists, and modern Americans, Silver City has an array of landmarks that can be explored on foot. A perfect starting point is the Murray Ryan Visitor Center, which provides brochures for self-guided tours of downtown murals and historic sites.
While touring, guests can rehydrate at the Jalisco Cafe or refuel at the Corner Kitchen. Then, although it is about 45 miles away, many head to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, a walkable wonderland of ancient Indigenous dwellings. Self-guided tours are offered year-round, while guided tours are available in spring, summer, and fall.
Taos
Another New Mexico community steeped in diverse history, Taos offers an array of tours by car, trolley, raft, and foot. These include Historic Taos Trolley Tours, Creative Soul Scavenger Hunts, Moonfire Tours, the Ghost Tour of Taos, and Historic Taos: A Self-Guided Walking Tour, the last of which takes pedestrians to 22 different landmarks from the Taos Plaza to the Victor Higgins House.
Like Silver City, Taos is home to an ancient Indigenous village. Unlike Silver City, Taos’s pueblo is still occupied and has been for several hundred years. Despite its continuous habitation, the Taos Pueblo hosts guided walking tours that start at 9:00 AM and run every 20 to 30 minutes until roughly 4:00 PM.
Socorro
Socorro is a city of about 8,700 people in the Rio Grande Valley, about 75 miles south of the largest city in the state, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although grande in scenery, Socorro proper is intimate enough to offer a walking tour of dozens of historic sites. The City of Socorro Historic Walking Tour divides Socorro into three districts.
Highlights include the Garcia Opera House (c. 1886) in the San Miguel Church District, the Captain Michael Cooney House (c. 1889) in the Church-McCutcheon District, and the Loma Cinema building (c. 1885) in the Kittrel Park-Manzanares District.
Magdalena
Located just 27 miles west of Socorro, Magdalena is a much smaller community with an equally rich history. Among the sites to explore in mini Magdalena are the Santa Fe Depot, which was built circa 1915 as a train station and is now paired with the Box Car Museum as a historic attraction; Bank of Magdalena, which was erected in the early 20th century and recently served coffee and ice cream as Evett’s Cafe; and Old Jail House, which detained Magdalena’s “rowdies” in a rowdier era.
You can jump from the past to the future by visiting the Very Large Array, a sprawling outdoor astronomy observatory situated west of town. Guided and self-guided walking tours of the 27 82-foot radio telescopes are available year-round, weather permitting.
Aztec
Let the Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village be your starting point for a tremendous tour of this northwestern New Mexico community. The museum offers sights of the Old City Hall since it is housed in the same building, and booklets for Historic Aztec Self-Guided Walking & Biking Tours, which take you to the Jarvis Hotel, Aztec Theater, and a number of other landmarks.
But you cannot end your tour of Aztec without visiting its namesake Aztec Ruins National Monument, a preserve of Ancestral Puebloan structures once misattributed to the Aztecs. Tours are mostly self-guided and cover a three-story, half-mile area for typically one to two hours.
Deming
For a New Mexico community, Deming has a rather large population of nearly 15,000. Yet Deming began with a quaint and walkable downtown that was well-preserved in the modern age. Many of its oldest buildings, such as the Luna County Courthouse and Seaman Field House, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and can be seen during the Historic Downtown Walking Tour.
This tour begins at the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum and passes more than a dozen landmarks before ending at the courthouse. If you get tired during your trip, stop for refreshment at Sounds Good Café or nourishment at Irma’s Restaurant.
Truth or Consequences
Truth or Consequences is an apt name for a city that gives truth-bending tours with tales of historical consequences. “Salacious stories about prostitution, Apache attacks, crimes, and ghosts” accompany Macabre Tours of Truth or Consequences, hosted by a local folklorist inside the Hot Springs Bathhouse and Commercial Historic District. Truth or Consequences was built on hot springs and was called Hot Springs until a contest held by the radio show Truth or Consequences permanently altered its identity. T-or-C is still fueled by the springs, which funnel through supposedly haunted spas.
If you would rather not mix spooks with soaks, you can forge a cozier path in town. Test the warm waters of the Riverbend Hot Springs, Fire Water Lodge, and/or Blackstone Hotsprings, along with the warm food of the Sidekixx Bar & Kitchen and the Pacific Grill.
Pedestrian-friendly but not pedestrian in style, Las Vegas, Silver City, Taos, Socorro, Magdalena, Aztec, Deming, and Truth or Consequences have glorious landmarks that can be visited on foot. Whether it is a Spanish Colonial church or an Ancestral Puebloan village or a futuristic observatory, you do not need a vehicle to enjoy such small-town New Mexico wonders. There are also several nearby must-visit attractions you may need wheels to get to, but shoes will suffice when exploring these walkable towns.
Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ case dismissed by judge over ‘suppressed’ evidence
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charge was abruptly dismissed with prejudice. He cannot be retried for involuntary manslaughter.
Alec Baldwin, whose involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed last summer over suppressed evidence, is taking the fatal 2021 “Rust” set shooting back to the court room.
The actor on Thursday filed a civil lawsuit in Santa Fe County District Court alleging prosecutors violated his civil rights and defamed him. The defendants named in the filing included special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, personnel within the district attorney’s office for New Mexico’s First Judicial District and members of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The complaint detailed Baldwin’s claims that prosecutors and investigators “conspired to procure a groundless indictment against Baldwin” by not following the proper criminal process and also intentionally kept exculpatory evidence from the defense.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Morrissey said, “In October 2023 the prosecution team became aware that Mr. Baldwin intended to file a retaliatory civil lawsuit. We look forward to our day in court.”
USA TODAY has reached out to lawyers for Baldwin as well as the DA’s office for comment. The sheriff’s office declined to comment.
Last summer, Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro forewarned the sheriff’s office and prosecutor in letters sent to the parties on July 12 to preserve evidence for “potential for future litigation,” according to copies obtained at the time by USA TODAY.
The actor and producer’s attorney advised Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza to preserve all “devices, hard drives, emails, text messages, and other electronic communications” in addition to “documents, records, electronically stored information (‘ESI’), and other materials and data existing in any form whatsoever, that are actually or potentially relevant or relate in any way to the investigation(s) and/or prosecution(s) conducted by the State in connection with the death of Halyna Hutchins.”
The filing comes nearly six months after First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer abruptly dismissed the criminal case against Baldwin on the grounds that prosecutors and law enforcement withheld evidence that might be favorable to the actor’s defense. In October, she upheld her dismissal; though prosecutors appealed the judge’s decision in November, they withdrew the notice of appeal the following month.
Baldwin’s criminal charge stemmed from an Oct. 21, 2021, incident in which Baldwin’s prop gun, which he said he’d been told did not contain live ammunition, discharged during a rehearsal for the movie, killing 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
‘No verdict’ can ‘undo the trauma’ of criminal case against Alec Baldwin, lawsuit says
Baldwin’s legal complaint accused New Mexico investigators and prosecutors of being ” blinded by their desire to convict Alec Baldwin for all the wrong reasons, and at any cost, for the October 2021 accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins.”
“Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law,” the filing continued.
Baldwin seeks a jury trial and an award of financial compensation for his “injuries suffered” as well as punitive damages against the defendants.
“Defendants must now be held accountable for their malicious and unlawful pursuit of Baldwin,” the lawsuit states. “Although no verdict in this civil case can undo the trauma the State’s threat of conviction and incarceration has inflicted, Alec Baldwin has filed this action to hold Defendants responsible for their appalling violations of the laws that governed their work.”
Why was Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case dismissed?
The conclusion of Baldwin’s case with the state of New Mexico arrived more than two years after the on-set tragedy. Sommer dismissed the charge with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile the same claim.
Baldwin’s lawyers alleged in their filing that Santa Fe sheriffs and state prosecutors “concealed” evidence that could be linked to the source of the bullet that killed Hutchins. Prosecutors and sheriffs argued the evidence had no relevance or value to Baldwin’s case.
The judge reprimanded Morrissey and her team as “they have continued to fail to disclose critical evidence to the defendant.”
“The state’s willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching.”
Testimony revealed withheld evidence in ‘Rust’ case
On July 12, Baldwin’s lawyers said the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office was in possession of live rounds they argued might be connected to the one that killed Hutchins but failed to list them as evidence in the “Rust” investigation file or disclose their existence to defense lawyers.
On July 11, testimony revealed Troy Teske, a friend of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s stepfather, had delivered Colt .45 live rounds to the sheriff’s office on March 6. Baldwin’s team claimed this was evidence that could have established a connection to Seth Kenney, the prop supplier for “Rust.”
Baldwin’s attorneys alleged the rounds were evidence that the bullet that killed Hutchins came from Kenney. Kenney has denied supplying live ammunition to the production and has not been charged in the case.
Baldwin’s team has blamed Gutierrez-Reed, who is serving 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, and first assistant director Dave Halls for negligence that led to Hutchins’ death. Meanwhile, prosecutors argued Baldwin handled the gun irresponsibly, exhibited “bullyish behavior on set” and changed his story to cast blame on others.
Contributing: Andrew Hay, Reuters
We’re expecting widespread light snow Thursday in New Mexico. See the latest forecast at KOB.com/Weather.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The snow was falling and the roads were slick to start Thursday in parts of New Mexico and it’s likely that will continue throughout the day.
We’ll see on and off scattered snow showers, especially in parts of southern New Mexico. That will become more widespread with blowing snow possible.
A winter weather advisory is still in effect until Friday morning for 1-3 inches of snow expected and 5-6 inches of snow in higher-elevation areas. It encompasses most of southern New Mexico and stretches just above Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, heading toward the Texas state line.
High temperatures will be at least 10° below average for pretty much everyone.
Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.
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