Weekend Wanderer: Silver City, New Mexico

This month we’re highlighting Silver City, New Mexico, located about five hours west of us. Based on my own trip there, taking the mountain path is absolutely beautiful, though it does take a bit longer to drive.

Now, I’ve only visited during the spring-summer months, but it is lovely and much cooler than what we’re experiencing here in Carlsbad right now. But don’t let that cool air fool you. Silver City sits at a much higher elevation, which means you’re significantly closer to the sun. Take it from me, you absolutely must pack a good hat and plenty of sunscreen before you head out.

If you’re wondering where to stay, I liked the historic Murray Hotel right in the Main Street area. It has great Art Deco styling and, while it’s an older building, it is clean and well cared for. Plus, they are currently in the middle of expanding to add a brand-new restaurant.

There are other lovely hotels in the downtown area.

The Main Street area itself is fantastic. It is highly walkable and packed with cute independent shops - including some that I visited: a pet boutique, a tie-dye store, a yarn store - plus lots of thrift stores and bookstores.

The local food scene is just as wonderful. Right down on Bullard Street, you can check out Forest Pizza or hit the independent pasta place, Kalamattas, which sits right next door to it. Both are within easy walking distance of the hotel. If you want great Mexican food, head over to Jalisco Cafe. They served up the biggest sopapillas I’ve ever seen.

For dessert, you could also try junejune down the street, an excellent ice cream parlor that we had to hit. They make exciting flavors completely in-house, and they offer great vegan options and gluten-free cones for those in need.

My absolute favorite meal of the trip, though, was not mine. It was my husband’s, and it came from a local pop-up food vendor called Fork Off. From talking to the chef, I learned he trained at the Escoffier Culinary School and developed his incredible fusion flavors by studying classic French cooking and bringing in a wide variety of experience as found in Southwestern and Latin kitchens after years in the LA cooking scene.

If you can, try to time your trip to coincide with the annual Southwest New Mexico Blues Festival at Gough Park. It is a total blast and completely free to attend. The festival has local vendors out hawking their wares, little rides set up for little kiddos, and a very cool classic car and motorcycle show along the walk down to the park. There was even a free performance of Shakespeare in the Ditch, locally known as Ditchspeare, right down in the big ditch park in the evenings.

From the festival stage, my favorite new bands were Pocket Chocolate traveling all the way from New Orleans and Piper and the Hard Times coming out of Nashville. Both brought their own distinctive flavor to the blues.

For nature lovers, we went out to the beautiful Aldo Leopold Wilderness and stopped at the Emery Pass Overlook for some truly unforgettable mountain views on our way home. I recommend taking this scenic way back to wrap up your vacation.

We also headed to Hatch to grab one of Sparky’s World Famous Grilled Green Chili Cheeseburgers and then did a little shopping in Las Cruces before heading back to Eddy County.

Originally aired as part of Midweek Matters on KCCC 930AM on June 10, 2026. Audio and more are available in The Eddy County Dispatch newsletter at kccc930am.substack.com, the archive of record for the radio station.