Discover The Best Things To Do in Roswell, New Mexico (That May Make you Believe in Aliens)
Everything you need to know before visiting The Alien City of Roswell.
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📍- Roswell, New Mexico
In the early morning hours of a spring day in 2022, Drew and I made the long journey up the desert road of Highway 285 in our voyage to see one of the most famous towns in the world. Despite its small size and location within the scorching Chihuahuan Desert, it's a place that is visited by over 35 million visitors a year.
The attraction many people feel to visit the city of Roswell, New Mexico dates back to The Roswell Incident of 1947, the story that puts Roswell at the center of the most infamous, alleged UFO sighting in the country. Since then, the legend itself has since been embraced so strongly by the people of Roswell, that they have transformed the town into a paradise for anybody seeking an alien-themed getaway.
After spending two weeks here, we’ve learned about everything this quirky little town has to offer its guests, and we’ve boiled this knowledge down to teach you everything you need to know before visiting this Midwest tourist hub. If this sounds like exactly what you need, keep reading to learn about the best activities you should do while in Roswell, New Mexico.
But first, what is The Roswell Incident?
The Roswell Incident of 1947 is remembered today as one of the most famous reported recoveries of an alien aircraft in America. The story begins on July 7th, when a rancher who went by the name of "Mac" Brazel reported the debris of a downed, unidentified flying object which had crashed in his field outside of Roswell, New Mexico. At the time, the country was experiencing an unprecedented “UFO Craze” where hundreds of civilians began reporting sightings of unidentified flying objects after a civilian pilot’s story of spotting what he described as a “flying saucer” was picked up by national news networks.
Back in Roswell, Brazel’s report of debris from an unknown origin caught the attention of the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) who went back to Brazel’s ranch to search the crash site. The following day, the RAAF issued a press release that described the wreckage as the remains of a “flying disc”. However, after witnessing the frenzied reaction to this news, they quickly recounted this use of terminology, modifying the statement to indicate that the rubble was nothing more than a “weather balloon”. This retraction did little to stifle the theories of the public, though, with Roswell citizens fanning the flames by flaunting eye-witness testimonies of “alien bodies” near the crash site.
Roswell conspiracy theories reached an all-time high in the 1970s when the recently retired Air Field Lieutenant, Colonel Jesse Marcel, began participating in interviews where he confessed that he believed the wreckage he recovered in 1947 was of “extraterrestrial origin”. These interviews sparked a renewed global interest in Roswell which has culminated in multiple movies, television shows, books, and countless complex conspiracy theories which center around the common theme that the United States government has found evidence of technology from another world and that they have worked to cover up the evidence ever since.
What to do in Roswell, New Mexico
Regardless of whether you believe we are alone in this universe or not, there is a large collection of fun, and unique activities to do during your next trip to Roswell, New Mexico. While not all of them are worth your time and money, the following list was created to resemble the best things we did during our two weeks in the town, and only includes the things we recommend for other travelers.
These welcome signs stand all of the major entrances to Roswell, making them popular photo destinations for visitors.
International UFO Museum and Research Center
The International UFO Museum and Research Center is perhaps the biggest attraction that draws visitors to Roswell every year. At only $5 to enter, including unlimited reentries for the day, it is easily amongst one of the cheapest investments that Drew and I have made in a two-hour activity throughout all of our travels.
The museum walks you through the events of the 1947 Roswell Incident, including interactive exhibits, movie props, space-themed games, and photo opportunities throughout the journey. After you’ve learned everything there is to know about the original event, the museum then leads you through the stories of other famous close encounters throughout The United States.
Although it is skipped over by many, after you have enjoyed the museum, we highly recommend walking over to the attached UFO Research Library which houses the largest collection of alien-themed novels, movies, and media reports in the world. Paging through any one of the hundreds of binders that fill the room is a fun way to learn a tiny bit about UFO lore in America.
One of my favorite displays in the museum was this movie prop, featuring a New Mexico-inspired background, a cohort of aliens, and a spinning UFO which lit up every 30 minutes.
As Drew and I read through some of the binders in the UFO Research Center, we couldn’t help but be impressed by the people who took the time to organize all of these UFO documents from the media!
Roswell UFO Spacewalk
With little expectations about what the Roswell UFO Spacewalk would give us, this simple attraction surprised us in the best of ways and ended up being one of our favorite activities in Roswell! Like the museum, the Spacewalk is $5 per person to enter and includes unlimited walkthroughs until they close their doors. The walk itself is a black-light experience that takes you on an adventure through space and time. You get to walk through an alien ship, float through deep space, and then see an alien world. Your entry includes a glow-in-the-dark wristband, and as many free stickers as you would like to help you remember your close encounter with alien kind.
Here is one particularly hostile alien who pointed us in the right direction once we stepped foot on his planet.
Spaceport Roswell
Like the other alien-themed activities on this list, Spaceport Roswell is a one-of-a-kind experience. Designed to look and feel like a futuristic loading zone for space travelers, once you are greeted by the spaceport flight attendants, guests get to choose between two virtual reality experiences. Being drawn to the town because of its fabled past, we chose to participate in “1947”, an exploit that takes you through the events of the Roswell Incident from the point of view of the aliens. Alternatively, we heard reports that the other film, “Apollo 11”, is a safer choice if you’re traveling with young children. From the costumed workers to the sliding airlock doors, Spaceport Roswell does a great job of suspending reality for their customers and making them feel like they’ve been transported through time and space.
Downtown Alien Hunting
During your visit to Roswell, we recommend setting aside a few hours to simply wander their historic downtown streets and hunt for aliens. No, seriously, there are a ton of aliens on these streets!
Because of how enthusiastic the town has been in embracing its UFO-infused past, there are a ton of aliens and spaceships that can be found by walking the town, all of them making for fantastic photo opportunities. We chose to explore the town on foot, getting in a bit of light exercise and taking more photos than we probably needed to along the way. Throughout our extraterrestrial hunt, our favorite alien sightings include the crashed spaceship by the Roswell Welcome Sign, The UFO outside of The Invasion Station Gift Shop, the “We Believe” Mural near the UFO Museum, the large alien holding the Dunkin’ Donuts Marquee, and the UFO-shaped McDonalds, which boasts its title as the only space-themed McDonald’s in the world. After sampling the “delicacies” at the Roswell McDonald’s and Dunkin; Donuts, I can confirm that while they do not serve any specialty alien-themed food items, the experience of eating a Big Mac while staring at a french fry shaped rocket ship is totally worth it.
Heck, their street lights even resemble little green extraterrestrial visitors!
While we found that this particular photo spot had one alien missing its head, we found a creative way to make it work for our picture.
Due to the wonderful color in this photo, his mural was one of my favorite picture opportunities in Roswell.
Who could resist snapping a cheeky photo with this green guy? He offered a nice place to sit in the shade when seeking a break from the Roswell sun.
This McDonald’s definitely gave us our most memorable fast food experience to date. It’s true what they say. Things just taste better in outer space.
Bottomless Lakes State Park
As RV travelers, Drew and I have stayed at a lot of state parks throughout our journey, and Bottomless Lakes has quickly become one of our all-time favorites. The park consists of a series of nine historic sinkholes which have since filled with water to create natural lakes. The aquatic plants which grow within the lakes give them a characteristic deep blue color, making them appear bottomless, and therefore giving them their name.
The hot desert sun can be oppressive, even during the spring when we visited Roswell, so being able to go for a swim after a long day of sightseeing is a wonderful way to cool off and recharge. Besides swimming, the lakes are also open to scuba diving, fishing, kayaking, and paddle-boarding, with the park conveniently renting out vessels during the summer season.
While this activity isn’t exactly alien-themed, we feel it gives visitors a little taste of some of the other activities that southeast New Mexico has to offer. It costs $14 a night to camp here with water and electric hooks, which is a bargain for the beautiful scenery and stargazing that comes with it!
Did I mention it also has amazing sunsets? Here is one of our favorite ones with the Sierra Blanca Mountain Peak visible in the distance.
Pecos Flavors Winery and Bistro
Pecos Flavors Winery is a charming winery and bistro which proves you don’t have to be in a big city to find a delicious meal. We were attracted to this restaurant because we wanted to sample some of the multiple alien-themed wines, beers, and cocktails that the area had, and Pecos Flavors delivered all of this and much more. They have a large selection of regional beers and wines, offering flights for us indecisive individuals. They also feature live music most days of the week, making it a great way to wind down your alien hunting shenanigans. Drew and I spent a few hours here over lunch and dinner to sip on a few cocktails and sample the menu. In the end, we can confidently recommend their Bloody Mary, tomato soup, green chili queso, and burgers, easily, making it one of the best meals we had during our time in New Mexico.
And, if you enjoy a hoppy beer, Drew highly recommends the Elevated IPA which we enjoyed on their outdoor patio.
Have you ever been to Roswell and have an amazing experience to share? Perhaps you haven’t gone yet, but are dying to make the drive. Be sure to comment down below so that we can inspire future travelers together!
Thank you for joining us at Discovery Detour, where the destination is always unknown.
