Delightful Detour: El Malpais Nat'l Monument 3/20/10

There's something to the belief that diminished expectations produce a greater reward, and that idea is no less true when it comes to National Park sites. Sure, most of the "big daddies" are everything they're promised to be, but there's always the risk that waiting a lifetime will prove to have been in vain. Even the second-tier sites can produce an air of despair, as if the miles and miles of hard driving were never really worth it in the end. And then there are places like El Malpais (Spanish for "the badlands"), NPS destinations that never generated any real excitement, and were tossed aside as merely obligatory, to be visited when we had no other choice. We'd clock in, get our stamp, and go through the motions of feigned interest. How wrong we were. El Malpais is no Yellowstone, of course, but it's a cut above not only the initital indifference, but several other locations that we had sought out with glee and relish. There's a strange, rugged beauty to this New Mexico monument, and we're glad we decided turn off in its direction instead of heading straight to Albuquerque.

There's a backcountry wilderness and conservation area to El Malpais, but we stuck pretty close to the monument, as it is conveniently cut through with a well-maintained road. The driving tour is hardly the total experience, but there's enough to charm the eye and justify the exit from I-40. First up, one must visit the Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center (in Grants, off Exit 85), an oddly specific museum indeed (is there a Southeast VC to be had?), but a great place to pick up tips, brochures, and the passport stamps. Please, do not be as foolish as we were and neglect the visitor center's own stamp, an omission which forced us to come back months later when we finally hit El Morro. Leaving the parking lot, one should turn back on Exit 89, as Exit 81 will take you towards El Morro and the privately held Bandera Ice Caves. Also, the initial exit will allow stampers to hit the BLM Ranger Station, which features a stamp that is nearly identical to the one secured at the NW New Mexico Visitor Center, except that it adds its designation as a National Conservation Area. It's a small distinction, but the passport brass will kill you if you don't have every single variation.

First up is the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook, where a short dirt road takes you to the best view of the monument's lava flows and seemingly endless countryside. While the scene may appear dull and lifeless from above, the ground below houses jagged spatter cones and a 17-mile lava tube cave system that formed after the area's hot lava cooled considerably. Even before one enters the monument, the lava mounds are everywhere, adding to an otherworldly feel that challenges our idea of what constitutes natural beauty. We loved it, and one shouldn't think that the black seas of lava eliminate plant life altogether. In fact, El Malpais features many flowers and ponderosa pine. The terrain is also home to scorpions and bullsnakes, a fact which justifies our desire to stay as close to the vehicle as possible.

Next up is the La Ventana Natural Arch, which is located across from "The Narrows" (where lava flowed near the base of 500-foot-high cliffs and hikers can explore via the Narrows Rim Trail). La Ventana hardly ranks with the best of Utah's fabled arches, but it is New Mexico's largest, and its erosion from sandstone dates back to the age of dinosaurs (gotta love these park brochures). The arch pretty much represented the end of the driving tour, as much as we wanted to strap on our gear and tackle the Cebolla Wilderness (petroglyphs abound, as well as certain death for the Cales).

In all, a blue sky, crisp March breeze, and two well-earned stamps made it a quietly enjoyable day, and we were now set to hit the big city ahead with a little gambling (very little, as we are the world's cheapest, most cautious gamblers). We never would have come here without the passport stamp addiction, which is the best, most lasting reason to take on such a hobby. Sure, it's not worth a drive all by itself (even we were coming back from bagging bigger game), but if you're in the area, no one should begrudge you a similar delightful detour.

FINAL RATING

6.5/10