I-10 heads west from Las Cruces across the wide-open rangeland that fills out the southwest corner of New Mexico, also known as the " Bootheel " for the way it steps down toward Mexico. It's so sparsely inhabited that there are roughly three square miles per person. Towns are few and far between: DEMING , sixty miles west of Las Cruces, has a few motels and cafés and is one of two stops for Amtrak trains. Even if you're racing through on the interstate, make time for the very good Luna Mimbres Museum (Mon-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 1.30-4pm; free), which relates the region's Native American and Wild West past, and has a great show of minerals and gemstones. LORDSBURG , too, on I-10 twenty miles short of Arizona, has a string of gas stations, cafés and motels but little else.

Southwest corner

• Southwest corner

Explore Southwest corner

• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
• Silver City

New Mexico cities


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