Alamogordo

Alamogordo is a small city in southeastern New Mexico. The town is the county seat for Otero County and supports two major nearby military installations, Holloman Air Force Base and the White Sands Missile Range.

Understand
Originally a small hamlet for ranchers and farmers due to the railroad passing through town (the name is a Spanish word meaning "fat cottonwood"), the town has become associated with military and secretive activities, first gaining notability for being the closest substantial settlement to the first nuclear bomb test in 1945.

Alamogordo has also gained a quirky sort of infamy among video game enthusiasts as the site of the Atari video game burial, when Atari buried thousands of unsold video games, most notably copies of the poorly-received E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

By car
U.S. Route 54, 70 and 82 all go through Alamogordo. U.S. 54 meet El Paso about 90 miles to the south. U.S. 70 & 84 meet Las Cruces and I-25 about 70 miles to the southwest. U.S. 54 North goes through La Luz, Tularosa and Carrizozo where it meets U.S. 380. U.S. 380 west meets up with San Antonio, NM and I-25. U.S. 70 heads northeast to Ruidoso. Finally, 82 east will meet Artesia and U.S. 285 after 110 miles. From there it is 40 miles north to Roswell and 35 miles south to Carlsbad, two popular tourist towns.

By plane
The closest major airport is El Paso International Airport 90 miles to the south.

By train
Although the railroad goes through Alamogordo, no commuter service is available and Union Pacific ceased stopping there in 2006.

Get around
Alamogordo is a small city and one could easily walk most of the city.

There are two taxi services available:
 * Dollar Cab, +1 575 434-8294
 * T-N-T Taxi Service, +1 575 437-2292

Public transportation is provided by Z-Tranz +1 575 439-4900.

See




Buy
There are many shops, gas stations, banks and other amenities located going through Alamagordo along White Sands Blvd (US 70/54). If shopping is your specific goal then you won't want to miss the following area.



Eat
There are plenty of restaurants to suit your tastes around Alamogordo, including Chinese, Mexican, Thai, almost everything. Most restaurants are centered around downtown or White Sands Boulevard.

Typical fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Arby's, Subway, Sonic, Quizno's, and Burger King are available throughout the city.



Drink
There are few establishments in the city specifically focused on drinking (that is to say, bars). Besides the Chili's and Applebee's, the two most popular places to drink are:

Note also the following private clubs which have establishments in the city. As private organizations, they are subject to different laws than public restaurants and bars. The VFW, for example, legally allows smoking indoors.



Go next

 * White Sands National Park makes a nice day excursion from Alamogordo, it is about 45 minutes southwest by car.
 * Ruidoso is an hour away and Cloudcroft is less than 30 minutes away, both are great mountain retreats.
 * The Inn of the Mountain Gods is a hotel and casino, along with golf, horseback riding, and a hunting lodge on the nearby Mescalero Apache reservation. It is accessible by road between Alamogordo and Ruidoso.
 * The Three Rivers Petroglyph Site is about 30 miles north of Alamogordo on US 54, on the east side of the road.