Page 225 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

SOUTHERN NE W MEXIC O  223

One of the entrances to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, situated high above the Gila River
people, famous for their abstract Ailman House, and contains w Deming
black-and-white pottery designs, frontier-era memorabilia, while Road map D5. * 14,500. £ @
also lived in this area (see p42). the Western New Mexico n 800 E. Pine St. (575) 567-1962. 
The ruins are accessed by a one- University Museum holds the ∑ demingvisitorcenter.webs.com
mile (1.6-km) round-trip hike Southwest’s largest collection
from the footbridge crossing of Mimbres pottery. The town of Deming lies
the Gila River’s West Fork. Allow Silver City is a good base for 60 miles (97 km) west of Las
two hours to drive to the site exploring the surrounding Cruces. The Deming Luna
from Silver City, as the road region. The nearby forest is home Mimbres Museum contains
winds and climbs through to elk, deer, and bear, and there excellent pieces of Mimbres
mountains and canyons. are hiking trails and picnic areas. pottery, frontier artifacts, and
a fine gem and mineral display.
E Silver City Museum Rockhounding (amateur rock
q Silver City 312 W. Broadway. Tel (575) 538-5921. and mineral collecting) takes
Open 9am–4:30pm Tue–Fri,
Road map D5. * 10,000. @ n 201 10am–4pm Sat & Sun. Closed public place in Rockhound State Park,
N. Hudson St. (575) 538-5555. Open hols. 7 ∑ silvercitymuseum.org where jasper, agate, and other
9am–5pm Mon–Sat, 10am–2pm Sun minerals can be found. The
 ∑ visitsilvercity.org E Western New Mexico town is also known for its Great
University Museum American Duck Race, run every
As its name suggests, Silver City 1000 W. College Ave. Tel (575) 538- August (see p37).
was a mining town. Located in 6386. Open 9am–4:30pm Mon–Fri,
the foothills of the Pinos Altos 10am–4pm Sat & Sun. Closed public O Rockhound State Park
Mountains, its ornate architecture hols. 7 ∑ wnmu.edu/univ/ Highway 141. Tel (575) 546 6182.
dates from its boom period museum.shtml Open 7am–sunset daily. & 7
between 1870 and the 1890s. In
1895, a flood washed away the
city’s main street, and in its place
today is Big Ditch Park, an arroyo
(or waterway) running 50-ft-
(15-m-) deep through the town.
This area was the site of the
cabin where Billy the Kid (see
p229) spent much of his youth.
Silver City has three defined
historic districts – Chihuahua Hill,
Gospel Hill, and the old business
district – all containing buildings
that evoke the town’s Wild West
boom-town past.
The Silver City Museum is
located in the beautiful 1881 H.B. The H. B. Ailman House, home to the Silver City Museum
Ruins tucked inside a sandstone cave, Gila Cliffs Dwellings National Monument

222-223_EW_SW_USA.indd 223 28/11/17 12:42 PM