The Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center is the visitor center for El Malpais National Monument, Open from 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, seven days a week. The Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center is a multi-agency facility staffed through a cooperative effort by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. The center features exhibits on the land and the people of Northwest New Mexico, a Western National Parks Association bookstore, and a theater with over 50 video titles available for viewing.

A picnic area next to the front entrance is the perfect place to relax and plan your next adventure in El Malpais, on Mount Taylor, or in the wilds of the conservation area. The Western National Parks Association bookstore has topographic maps, field guides, books, and postcards. A short, 0.5-mile hiking trail that starts just off from the parking area. 

Nick-named “the badlands” by Spanish explorers as they detoured around forbidding and unrelenting flows of basalt, El Malpais National Monument is home to one of the most complete sequences of lava flows in the country. Preserved within this harsh yet starkly beautiful landscape are many lava tube cave systems, cinder cones, spatter cones, and other intriguing volcanic features. Exploring this surreal region can be done via scenic drives, overlooks, and short trails. For a more immersive experience in the volcanic mysteries of El Malpais, rugged backcountry and lava tube caves are yours to explore.

Great birdwatching sites along NM-117 include Sandstone Bluffs, La Ventana Natural Arch, and Narrows Picnic Areas. NM-53 on the west side of the monument offers access to the El Calderon area, Zuni-Acoma Trail, and County Road 42. Summer monsoons create vernal, or seasonal, ponds along roadsides that attract visitors such as great blue herons. Always be aware of your surroundings while bird watching.

Cibola National Forest covers more than 1.6 million acres and includes mountains, grasslands, wilderness, and forests. The name Cibola comes from the Zuni word for their tribal lands, which the Spanish later translated as "buffalo". The forest is home black bears, cougars, elk, and pronghorn. Cibola National Forest offers many recreational opportunities including hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, and skiing. It also has cultural and historical significance, as it contains ancient Native American sites and historic trails.

The National Forest has four ranger districts: Sandia, Mountainair, Magdalena, and Mount Taylor. In addition, the Cibola has four wilderness areas: Sandia Mountain, Manzano Mountain, Withington, and Apache Kid.

The El Malpais National Conservation Area (NCA) was established in 1987 to protect nationally significant geological, archaeological, ecological, cultural, scenic, scientific, and wilderness resources surrounding the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field. El Malpais translates to “the badlands” in Spanish.

The NCA includes dramatic sandstone cliffs, canyons, La Ventana Natural Arch, Chain of Craters Back Country Byway, Joe Skeen Campground, the Narrows Picnic Area, and the Cebolla and West Malpais Wilderness Areas. There are many opportunities for photography, hiking, camping, and wildlife viewing within this unique NCA.

For more than 10,000 years people have interacted with the El Malpais landscape. Historic and prehistoric sites provide connections to the past. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Native American groups, including the Ramah Navajo and Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni. These tribes continue their ancestral uses of El Malpais including gathering plant materials, paying respect, and renewing ties.