Insider's Guide to Las Vegas, NM

This is “where the Great Plains meet the mighty Rockies,” or so says a billboard for the movie “The Red Dawn.”

Historic Las Vegas is a small easy-going town at the eastern edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico. At an elevation of 6,435 feet, the weather is mild, the air fresh and pure. Here you can mingle with real cowboys and old hippies and visit artists and antique dealers. No traffic or pollution or crowds. Connected to the past and magnificently surrounded by nature.

It is not surprising that the first Spanish settlers wanted to move here in the early 1800’s and some of their early adobe buildings still exist on the west side of town. The east side was settled by Anglos who arrived with the coming of the railroad in 1879. The houses they built were in the popular style of 1880’s, including many turreted Victorians. These and later styles from the early 1900’s are still visible in Las Vegas which has almost a thousand buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places. The downtown plaza is surrounded by both adobe and brick buildings reflecting both Hispanic and Anglo history.

Las Vegas offers easy access to two National Forests, a nature preserve, campgrounds and Storrie Lake. For those who want to visit in the wintertime, there is a ski run within 60 miles. Come whenever. We’re ready to welcome you with this and much more.