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Operated by the local Unser racing family, this museum is dedicated to the racing legacy of the Unsers and to the sport of auto racing in general.
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The Nature Center
Visitors can walk the paths through cottonwood forest and next to managed ponds and wetlands, or avoid the elements at the Visitor Center. Beautiful tile installments throughout the park educate visitors on local ecology and conservation efforts. Birdwatchers find this site an especially rewarding urban location.
The bosque provides a tranquil setting for this small but delightful nature center, with its wildlife pond and exhibits on the native wildlife. Nature lovers will particularly enjoy the enclosed views of the pond behind the visitor center. Two short trails head into the bosque from the visitor center.
The center for the city's open space program, which encompasses land from around the city to preserve for environmental and recreational use. The visitor center has exhibits on the natural and cultural resources of the area, an art gallery, a nature area, and views of the bosque and mountains.
A tourist complex operated by the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico. Though there is a museum about pueblo history and culture on-site, it's rather small and tucked away, with most of the complex given over to more lucrative ventures like an art gallery, a restaurant, and a large gift shop (a better museum experience can be found at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture up in Santa Fe). Besides the gift shop, the best reason to visit this place is the regularly scheduled Indian dances which take place in the courtyard.
On the west side of town, Petroglyph is a unit of the United States National Park System and preserves a significant archaeological site with an impressive number of petroglyphs. Despite their proximity to an urban center, the petroglyphs are in good condition with very little vandalism or theft. The monument has a visitor center with some interpretive exhibits and a few short trails that lead past numerous petroglyphs. Also within the monument are a series of volcanic cinder cones overlooking the city, accessible by hiking trails from Atrisco Vista Blvd along the backside of the monument.
This splendid museum has well-constructed geological and paleontological displays which illustrate a "journey through time", covering everything from the birth of the planet to the Ice Age. There's plenty of dinosaurs around, from the statues outside the main entrance, to a T. rex in the atrium, to one massive hall with several complete (and massive) dinosaur skeletons. Additionally, an entire wing of the museum is devoted to astronomical exhibits, and there's also an exhibit about the birth of the personal computer, which happened right here in Albuquerque. A planetarium and a large-screen theater are also in the building.