Me and my GF are thinking about an 'on the cheap' road trip at the end of the year. We are in Dallas, have a newer / dependable car that gets decent mileage, and have camp gear in case we decide a night of camping here and there would work instead of a motel.

I was in NM 2 years ago and did Carlsbad, camped at White Sands, the Trinity Site tour, Cloudcroft and a few other places (and loved it). She has never been camping or been to NM.

The idea is to drive from Dallas to NM and maybe spend 2 or 3 days there before going through AZ and on to Joshua Tree Nat'l Park in CA. We definitely want a night camping at White Sands. Carlsbad is a maybe. We'd kinda like to do the touristy / buy a few dumb trinkets thing at Roswell

What else should we see? Any suggestions?

Space museum in Alamogordo is worth a few hours.  A quick shopping trip on Old Mesilla is always nice (if you're into Billy the Kid, also the Billy the Kid trail in the Lincoln National forest).  When you see the signs for 'The Thing' on I-10, keep going, it's just a petrified corpse.

The nuclear history museum in ABQ is very cool. Zoo, botanical gardens and aquarium are very meh. There's Valles Caldera in the Jemez west of Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument as well. Lost of good hiking and nature stuff around.

San Antonio Hot Springs about an hour North of Albuquerque.  Also, great camping in that same area.  Hit up the Ojito Wilderness BLM land for a cool shooting spot on the way!

The zoo isn't bad, but I hate how it's right in the middle of some super shady neighborhoods

I'll check out Valles Caldera and Old Mesilla online to see what those places are about.

What's the deal with shooting on BLM land? Where is such land and what are the rules? Here in TX I don't even know of a place out in the country where it's legal to shoot anymore.

When were you thinking of coming through?  Lot of good suggestions so far, but depending on when you will be here, I might suggest some options over others.

EDIT:  RIF

I'd say take the Cumbres and Toltec steam engine train out of Chama - though that may be too far north from the sounds of your travels.  It is a great trip regardless, and even better in the fall with the colors.  I'll add the Abq Nuclear History Museum is cool, you could also hike the volcanoes on the west side of Abq.

I always enjoy the living desert state park north of Carlsbad and the road from Cloudcroft to Alamagordo  can be nice.
But I cant imagine anything that tops the Roswell Alien Museum.

I've camped in Cloudcroft and gone from there to Alamagodo. Pretty scenery.

To answer one of the questions earlier - probably late October, early November.

Agree. Also the balloon museum is an OK stop. Another is the National Radio Astronomical Observatory, where the VLA is located (this was featured in "Contact" starring Jodie Foster).



There's a self-guided tour and a visitor's center with a couple of theaters, a gift shop, and some other displays. This is about 45 minutes west of Socorro.

If you like the mineral springs, San Antonio Hot Springs is a natural outdoor spring, and has a fantastically beautiful, natural setting! It's about 5 somewhat difficult miles from the main road. About 2 hours south of Albuquerque is Truth or Consequences, where there are several developed spas; some are indoors and private and others are outdoors. There's also a (somewhat) interesting museum about the area: the Geronimo Springs Museum.

going to an Isotopes game is worth it if your in town

quite a few restaurants that were featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives that are in ABQ and Santa Fe

OH YES!! If you get a chance to stop by Roswell and see the Alien UFO Museum, you MUST pass it up.

Totally hokey. Not worth the 2-3 hours of your day. I wish I'd skipped it and gone straight to Carlsbad Caverns, which is a good way to spend your day.

All you need to see at the UFO museum is in the above link. It really is hokey.

Roswell is a waste of time, period.
It sounds like you are set on revisiting southern NM, if not I can offer some better suggestions.
Routing from Dallas to JT via ABQ/I40 only adds about an hour to the total route and offers something different.

Spend first partial day in ABQ, ride the tram (don't eat at either resturant), do some hiking along the crest, come down for some shopping with the GF, maybe drop a few at a casino.
Next morning head up into the Jemez on NM4, check out red rocks, the Gilman Tunnels, the hot springs, the falls, etc.
Spend that night camping up in Villa Caldera (or any of the dozens of camping locations along the way)
The next day maybe book a morning of fly fishing then a driving or hrseback tour in the PM
Spend that night camping again our zip over to Los Alamos if you want a hotel.
On the way out visit Bandelier NM then back down through Los Alamos, do a lab tour or hike tent rocks on the way back to Abq

All of the above are within 2hrs of Abq (basically its a loop drive) and are an easy 3 days of fun, highly varied scenery and stuff to do.

A variation would be to go counterclockwise and hit Bandelier NM first, then maybe Los Alamos for a tour, spend the night there then drop down NM4 via the Caldera, then the falls, hot springs, red rocks, etc. You can then use the extra day to make a short detour off I40 (on your way to AZ) and spend a night camping at Chaco Canyon. You can also stop at meteor crater since you'll be driving tight by (along with some of the doodad shops).

http://www.sandiapeak.com
http://www.newmexico.org/jemez-mountain-trail/
http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
http://www.vallescaldera.gov
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/rio_puerco/kasha_katuwe_tent_rocks.html
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm