El Malpais National Monument, Grants

El Malpais National Monument reviews

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TripAdvisor traveler rating

306 reviews

Google

4.7

• By Sally T

  El Malpais, means “the badlands” in Spanish, is pretty much what the Spanish conquistadors called challenging or bad terrain. They couldn’t cross the lava field with horses and livestock. El...  more »

• By Bob P

  Stop at the National Monument visitor center just south of I-40. They will greet you and be genuinely glad you stopped in. The monument covers a large area and contains multiple types of geology...  more »

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Google

• By Nikki Kindinger

  Great for kids to go caving! Free camping at Joe Skeen Campground-- I think we got the last spot for the night. Junction cave was awesome-- it is cool in there. Be sure to get a free permit at the visitors center, and definitely bring a helmet, or get one there because you will need it! If you have kids that love climbing all over everything, this is the place to go!

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• By John Hutchinson

  Hidden gem. We did not know that the park existed and that there were lava flows and tubes in New Mexico. We got any early start to avoid the hotest part of the day and found the trail to be spectacular. The wild flowers were beautiful.

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