by Celeste Lipford and Terry Lipford - last updated on 4/12/2025
Day 4 of our Southwest road trip took us on a scenic 209-mile journey from our hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the desert town of Alamogordo. The route, while fast-paced with a generous 75 mph speed limit along stretches of highway, still required a break from the long, uninterrupted drive. After all, there’s only so much sitting one can endure before the need to stretch your legs becomes impossible to ignore. Just before reaching Alamogordo, we spotted a unique roadside attraction that practically begged us to pull over—McGinn's PistachioLand, home of the world’s largest pistachio! It turned out to be the perfect place for a pit stop. Not only did we get to walk around and shake off the road trip fatigue, but we also explored the charming farm store, sampled locally grown pistachios, and snapped a few fun photos of the giant nut monument. It was a refreshing and unexpected detour that added some quirky local flavor to the day's drive, reminding us that sometimes the best parts of a road trip are the spontaneous stops along the way.
The Chihuahuan Desert contains the World's Largest Pistachio! Towering over 30 feet tall, this giant nut caught our eye as we were driving south and we decided to stop and explore the store.
Inside their country store their pistachio selection is impressive, with flavors ranging from classic roasted and salted to adventurous options like green chile and ranch. They offer pistachio candies and ice cream – which we had and we enjoyed it.
The McGinn family started their 90 acre pistachio orchard in 1980. Today, the orchard contains over 12,500 trees. 14 acres of grapes are also grown at Pistachio Tree Ranch and 18 different varieties of wine are made at McGinn's Arena Blanca Winery on site.
Biggest Pistachio in the World
Pistachio Grove
Store Welcome
Store SurfingAll of the above images are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC.
We drove south from Albuquerque on I-25 and then east on route 380 to Carizozo where we then turned south on U.S. 54. The point of all these directions is that we began to notice somewhere after we passed Three Rivers and before we reached Tularosa, that there was a large amount of white sand off to the west of the highway - That was our first sight of White Sands National Park. The sand is so incredibly white, that it stands out distinctly on the horizon. After Tularosa and all the way into Alamogordo the White Sands were always visible on the horizon.
Can you imagine sprawling dunes of glistening white gypsum crystals - the largest such gypsum dunefield (275 square miles) on Earth? You can hike or sled the smooth slopes, feeling the surprisingly cool sand beneath your feet. With its unique beauty and ample space for exploration, White Sands National Park promised us an adventure.
Dunes Drive Closed at Mile Marker 3: This limited how far we could drive into the park, but we found that we got all of our goals met by stopping at the Dune Life Nature Area and walking into the sand dunes. The white sand is very fine and difficult to get traction in! The Dune Life Nature Trail is a 1.6 kilometer loop, but because the temperature had risen to over 92 degrees, and the sun was reflected by the white sand, we walked perhaps only a half mile before departing.
Trying to Walk in the Dunes
East of Dune Life Nature Area
Dune Life Nature Area
Dune Life Nature TrailheadAs of 4/12/2025 and according to Google Review Ratings, here are five highly rated accommodations in Alamogordo;
Google Review Rating 4.3 based upon 329 review.
Google Review Rating 4.4 based upon 633 review.
Google Review Rating 4.2 based upon 1,200+ review.
Google Review Rating 4.2 based upon 626 review.
Google Review Rating 4.1 based upon 826 review.
We selected to stay at the Alamogordo Hampton Inn for several reasons, primarily because we were only going to be there for a single night and it was a good quality hotel at a reasonable price. And secondarily because it was only 14 miles from the entrance to White Sands National Park.
If you would prefer to do your own accommodations research, here is a link to a Google Search Results list for "accommodations in Alamogordo, NM".
As of 4/12/2025 and according to Google Review Ratings, here are the five most popular restaurants in Alamogordo;
Google Review Rating 4.8 based upon 263 review.
Google Review Rating 4.8 based upon 112 review.
Google Review Rating 4.7 based upon 1,300+ review.
Google Review Rating 4.5 based upon 331 review.
Google Review Rating 5.0 based upon 1 review.
In the trip menu list below, a "dark filled circle" represents a destination where we stayed, and the "dark filled arrow" items below that circle location, represent the destinations we visited while in that city or location. A circle icon that is not filled represents a city that we visited or stayed in, but did not necessarily explore.
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Alamogordo, NM
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM
Grand Canyon, AZ
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