Are you planning to be here at Christmas? If so, Taos Pueblo has dances Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. www.taospueblo.com

You may run into snow around Santa Fe and Taos. Be sure to pay attention to the weather forecasts.

With nine days, you might be able to get to southern New Mexico without rushing, but there is plenty to do in the northern half of the state.

Both the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro are good places to see wildlife. http://www.rgnc.org/ http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/newmex/bosque/

Lee Ann

Also check the other posts in here under New Mexico as somebody else just asked a similiar Q:

As for weather - may have to wait and see. If a big storm blows in - it might make travel a bit of a challenge for a day or so, but I am guessing they keep the main roads fairly clear.

Lee Ann has given you some good info. May I add that hiking in December can be snowy and cold and altitude should be considered. Don't know where you are coming from but make sure you understand the effect of high altitude.

Tent Rocks on a sunny day is a lovely hike if you are in good shape. There are many places to hike, but you will need to play it by ear as far as snow and weather.

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/rio_puerco/kasha_katuwe_tent_rocks.html

ABQ Bio Park has River of Lights which is lovely:

http://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/biopark/garden/annual-events/river-of-lights

http://www.cabq.gov/ for other things to see and do.

I would skip southern NM and focus on ABQ, Santa Fe and Taos. It is a long way to go south for a few days.

As far as roads are concerned, we only have 2 interstates, the rest of the roads are locally cared for and "should" be ok as far as snow goes, but if it's a big dump, all bets are off.

Thank you all for the feedback. Based on your suggestions and further research we have decided to visit NM next year in summer/fall months.

Thanks again.