Big Bend and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks

• 15 Meals (5 dinners, 2 lunches and 8 breakfasts)
• Round trip airport transfers
• Spend 2 nights in Big Bend National Park at the Casa Grande Lodge
• Guided tour of Big Bend National Park featuring the Sam Nall Ranch and Santa Elena Canyon
• Enjoy a delightful barbecue cookout dinner in Big Bend National Park
• Tour Fort Davis National Historic Park, a major frontier military post
• Visit the West of the Pecos Museum in the restored 1896 Orient Hotel and Saloon
• Explore beautiful Carlsbad Caverns National Park and see the incredible Big Room with its huge columns and cavern formations
• Spend 2 nights at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino
• Visit the UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell and the fine Hubbard Museum of the American West and the Straddling Museum of the Horse in Ruidoso Downs
• Travel the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway
• Tour Smokey Bear Historical Park to learn about the symbol of forest fire prevention and visit Valley of Fires Recreation Area with its gigantic Malpias Lava Flow
• Visit White Sands National Monument, an awesome expanse of snow-white gypsum sand dunes
• Farewell dinner in historic Old Mesilla, New Mexico
• $45 in Mayflower Money

Day One — Travel to El Paso, TX - Arrive at El Paso International Airport and transfer to our hotel nearby and meet your tour manager at 6:00 p.m. for a “Welcome to Texas” dinner in the Cattleman’s Steak House at the working Indian Cliffs Ranch. Dinner

Day Two — Marfa,Texas - Heading southeast through West Texas, we’ll make a sightseeing stop in picturesque Marfa, home to artists and craftsmen as well as the puzzling "Marfa Lights." Our destination today is the magnificent wilderness of Big Bend National Park. The eighth largest national park in the “lower 48,” it is located along 118 miles of the Rio Grande, where it makes a “big bend” roughly 325 miles southeast of El Paso. We’ll be guests for the next two nights at the park lodge located in the spectacular Chisos Basin. Breakfast

Day Three — Big Bend National Park - As the Park Service puts it, “Here, you can explore one of the last remaining wild corners of the United States, and experience unmatched sights, sounds, and solitude.” Big Bend is a park for hikers, birders, photographers, for lovers of all things natural. Over 450 bird and numerous desert animal species, plus hardy varieties of cacti, wildflowers and other annual plants inhabit these harsh climes. Our guided tour along Ross Maxwell Drive features the Sam Nall Ranch, Sotol Vista Overlook, historic Castalon and breathtaking Santa Elena Canyon. Breakfast and dinner

Day Four — Fort Davis National Historical Park and West of the Pecos Museum - Departing Big Bend, we’ll travel north into the Davis Mountains for a visit to fascinating Fort Davis National Historical Park, a major frontier military post established in 1854 to protect travelers, freight and mail from Comanche raiders along the San Antonio-El Paso Trail. Then, we stop in the town of Pecos to explore the West of the Pecos Museum. This museum occupies the restored 1896 Orient Hotel and Saloon and features a wide array of western artifacts. Breakfast and dinner

Day Five — Carlsbad Caverns National Park - Today’s featured sightseeing is splendid Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where we’ll descend by elevator for a self-guided tour of the incredible Big Room on a paved trail. This massive, eight-acre chamber has a 255-foot ceiling and is filled with beautiful, delicate formations, as well as huge columns, stalactites and stalagmites. Breakfast

Day Six — UFO Museum and Ruidoso - Continuing north, a visit to the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell may bring visions of flying saucers and little green men, but our afternoon sightseeing at the fine Hubbard Museum of the American West and Straddling Museum of the Horse in Ruidoso Downs will be much more “down to earth.” We’ll be guests for the next two nights of the exceptional mountain casino resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe in nearby Ruidoso, offering a wealth of guest facilities. Breakfast

Day Seven — Billy the Kid Country and the Valley of Fires - A day for varied interests begins as we travel the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway to New Mexico’s Lincoln State Monument, the historic frontier community where Billy killed his guards and escaped from the Lincoln County Courthouse in 1881, only to be shot dead in nearby Fort Sumter by Sheriff Pat Garrett. Next is a visit to the Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan to learn the story of America’s original symbol of forest fire prevention. Smokey died in 1975 and is buried here. Finally, sightseeing at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area in Carrizozo showcases the gigantic Malpais Lava Flow. Breakfast and dinner

Day Eight — White Sands National Monument and Old Mesilla -  Motoring through the Mescalero Apache Reservation, we’ll stop to see the historic St. Joseph Mission en route to Alamogordo. A final sightseeing highlight will be our afternoon visit to incredible White Sands National Monument, an awesome expanse of snow-white, gypsum sand dunes that cover 275 square miles and rise to a height of 60 feet. We’ll travel the 16-mile Dunes Drive and have an opportunity to scale convenient dunes along our route. Overnight accommodations await in Las Cruces, and a delicious “farewell” dinner will be served in historic Old Mesilla. Breakfast and dinner

Day Nine — Fly home from El Paso - We have a group transfer from Las Cruces to El Paso International Airport for flights home departing after 12:00 p.m. Breakfast

Day One - Radisson Hotel, El Paso, Texas

Days Two and Three - Casa Grande Lodge, Big Bend National Park, Texas

Days Four and Five - Best Western Stevens Inn, Carlsbad, New Mexico

Days Six and Seven - Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino, Ruidoso, New Mexico

Day Eight - Drury Inn and Suites, Las Cruces, New Mexico

✈ Call for air rates and schedules from your city to and from El Paso.

STAY ANOTHER NIGHT — Rooms for the night before the tour are available. Cost for a room in El Paso is $159, tax included.