Hello all, new to this site but not to the backcountry and have a few questions....
My girlfriend and I have two weeks off and plan to head down to NM in a week to get out of ND. We plan on possibly doing both backcountry and car camping but neither of us know much about the area or what exactly to expect. Preferably looking for hikes without snowshoes but again don't know much about the area so maybe that's not possible. So.....
Anyone have any hikes they recommend? Best views?
What to expect for weather, besides anything?
Any national parks have showers?
Best parks?
Even good restaurants in a nearby town for good grub? Being from ND we have mainly Norwegian and german restaurants. Looking for a southern style, Mexican or some spice. Unique.
Any and all info is greatly appreciated..
Thanks!

I curse New Mexico for making me an addict. Darn green chiles!
Not a long trip, but very interesting rock formations to say the least, in the Bisti Badlands, south of Farmington. Basically orinteering to bizarre, otherworldly formations and dry camping. If you can haul a couple of gallons of water, you can have an interesting experience. I'm going in April. There's also Bandelier National Monument http://www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/backpacking.htm.
Also wonderful- http://www.nps.gov/gicl/planyourvisit/upload/BackpackingInTheGilaWilderness.pdf
Hopefully, some other more experienced SW folks will chime in. For a taste of some hikes look up Southwest Backpacker, the fellow who started it has some well done videos, including one of another possibility depending on snow level, the Manzano Mts.
I've had lots of great eating experiences in NM. Good Mexican food abounds.

I liked hiking in NM a lot more than I had expected to going in. The part I most enjoyed was in the Gila river canyon. This site seems to describe the same route that I experienced there (I did it in Oct/Nov FWIW, river is a different animal earlier in the season when it's higher).

http://www.backpacker.com/trips/new-mexico/50-mile-thru-hikes-middle-fork-trail-nm/

The only placed there I backpacked in was Bandelier, which I liked quite a bit,but it's kind of cold in March. Here is some dayhiking info around Santa Fe that I dug up off the internet: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/magazin...e37c272ee8.html
Maybe you could check out what sort of trips the local Sierra Club chapter or hiking MeetUps are doing and take the ideas for yourself: they know what's best in their area.
Anyway, let us know how it goes. I could use some tips. I've wondered about going to N Mexico in the winter myself, but was unsure about the weather.

I should perhaps mention that in southern NM there are three variations (alternative route options) on the CDT (Continental Divide Trail), plus of course it continues on north to go all through the state. So if you're looking for trails, that at least is one large set of trail data.

There are multiple sources of CDT trail data. Jonathan Ley gives his away for (close to) free, via: http://www.phlumf.com/travels/cdt/cdtmaps.shtml

The Ley maps show all variations and are annotated with notes, most importantly including water sources along with some other stuff.

A lot of the trail isn't super defined in NM and there are some property right confusions, but lots of good stuff to consider in there too. I'm sure there are lots of other great alternatives in the state, this is just the stuff I'm familiar with (and of the route options, only the Columbus route).