Whether you’re looking for an authentic Mexican meal or a fun, hole-in-the-wall Thai spot, Roswell NM has some great options. Here are some of the top restaurants to check out!
The town’s economy relies heavily on aerospace engineering and ufology-related tourism. But it also has New Mexico and Americana-related businesses, including a flexible university that supports industrial students.
1. UFO Museum
Roswell’s biggest attraction reopened to visitors Monday, more than five months after the COVID-19 pandemic closed it. The UFO Museum is a research center with tons of information on the Roswell UFO Incident (as it’s officially known), other UFO phenomena and conspiracy theories. Its exhibits are designed not to convince anyone either way about their subjects, and it encourages visitors to ask questions.
While some of the displays are a little dated, it’s still worth the $5 admission for anyone interested in aliens or Roswell history. Guests can study dioramas of the alleged Roswell saucer crash, ponder a parachute test dummy that resembles an alien body and gaze at a wall of UFO space art donated by true believers. There is also a research library with more than 55,000 documents. Touch-screen monitors enhance text-heavy exhibits, and the curious can also play a search game using three 65” Ideum Presenter touch screens. The museum is open seven days a week year-round.
2. Bottomless Lakes State Park
Bottomless Lakes State Park is New Mexico’s first state park, founded in 1933. The park features a series of unique lakes (actually sink holes) that range from 17 to 90 feet deep and are set in dramatic red cliffs along the eastern bluffs of the Pecos River valley.
These unusual lakes were actually created in an area of karst topography, which means that the underlying rocks are soluble and thus susceptible to sinkholes, caves, and underground water systems. The lakes owe their existence to erosion that dissolved salt and gypsum deposits to create subterranean caverns. Over time the roofs of these caves collapsed to create the lakes we see today.
The largest lake at the park is Lea Lake and there are also Cottonwood, Mirror Lake North, and Devil’s Inkwell lakes. The other lakes are hidden away along the cliffs of the escarpment and require a hike to reach. You can swim, fish, kayak, canoe, camp, picnic and scuba dive at the lakes.
3. Walker Aviation Museum
A small but interesting museum with plenty of aviation memorabilia. It’s run by a very nice couple who make it a great place to stop and learn about the history of Roswell and Walker AFB. Highly recommended!
During World War II, the base was primarily engaged in primary flight training with the 468th Bombardment Group, which specialized in B-29 Superfortress transition training. Its mission continued after the war when it became a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation.
On 1 October 1953, the 686th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Walker AFB with AN/TPS-1B radars on mobile trailers. This unit was one of forty-four mobile units assigned to a permanent radar network for air defense of the United States.
The 509th Bombardment Wing was renamed the 6th Bombardment Wing on 2 January 1951 in honor of General Kenneth Newton Walker who lost his life during a bombing mission over Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea on 5 January 1943. The Sixth regained its primary tactical aircraft mission in 1958, with the 509th flying Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and KB-29M tankers.
4. Roswell Museum & Art Center
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, this popular Roswell museum features twelve galleries and a planetarium, plus art and history programs. Highlights include New Mexico modernist works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth (daughter of N.C. Wyeth); the Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston Collection of the American West; and a wing dedicated to rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard, which contains a re-creation of his laboratory and displays on his work with liquid fuel rockets.
The Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, also known as AMoCA, is a museum dedicated to the work produced by past fellows of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program. Its 12 galleries exhibit more than 500 diverse works. Currently, Marie Alarcon’s solo exhibition Relocations is on display. Using discarded industrial materials like plastic bags, barbed wire and hazmat blankets, the Philadelphia-based artist explores the revolutionary potential of the end of the world in this solo show.