| "If your dog is fat," the old saying goes, | | | | and you are welcome to tour this historic |
| "you aren't getting enough exercise." But | | | | ground with your dog. The most famous |
| walking the dog need not be just about a | | | | gravesite, of Texas gunslinger John Wesley |
| little exercise. Here are 14 cool things you | | | | Hardin, wasn't even marked until 1965 - 70 |
| can see in greater El Paso, Texas while you | | | | years after his death.HISTORIC BUILDINGS. |
| hike with your dog.AIRPLANES. | | | | |
| | | | The entire town of Lincoln, New Mexico is |
| Part of the hike through Box Canyon borders | | | | listed on the National Register of Historic |
| Las Cruces City Airport where you can observe | | | | Places, a survivor of the bloody Lincoln |
| vintage bi-planes and two-seaters droning | | | | County Wars. You and the dog can trace the |
| past.ARTWORK. | | | | events that turned an ordinary, unimpressive |
| | | | 17-year old William Bonney into the immortal |
| The lined paths and grassy areas of Chamizal | | | | "Billy the Kid."OLD MINES. |
| National Memorial are a delight for dog | | | | |
| walkers, as is Our Heritage, the mural | | | | The only tin mines on the North American |
| painted on the outside wall of the Chamizal. | | | | continent can be found in Franklin Mountain |
| It is a fine representative of Chicano | | | | State Park. You and the dog will stand and |
| Hispanic art, and is one of the better | | | | peer into these historic treasure troves. |
| preserved murals in the city. It depicts the | | | | More dangerous are the abandoned mines on the |
| historical blending of cultures along the | | | | east side of Bishop Cap.RELIGIOUS ICONS. |
| United States and Mexico border.BALD EAGLES. | | | | |
| | | | Mt. Cristo Rey is the spot where two |
| Caballo Lake is a great spot to scan the | | | | countries and three states come together and |
| skies for Bald and Golden eagles while your | | | | the summit is graced with the largest |
| dog enjoys a rare desert doggie dip.BEACH. | | | | limestone cross in America, carved |
| | | | painstakingly for a year on the top of the |
| One of the most spectacular beaches in | | | | mountain.ROCKS. |
| America is hundreds of miles from any ocean | | | | |
| or lake. The white gypsum sand dunes at White | | | | Rockhound State Park encourages you to |
| Sands National Monument are the largest in | | | | collect and keep samples of rock you discover |
| the world. Visit at night in the summer when | | | | on your canine hikes here. This includes an |
| sand is cooler to the paw and the dunes are | | | | abundance of beautiful red Jasper, a form of |
| hauntingly beautiful.DAMS. | | | | fine-grained quartz. You may be lucky enough |
| | | | to find white Opal, Agate, quartz crystals or |
| The movement to build a dam on the Rio | | | | thunder-eggs, which may be cut open to reveal |
| Grande started as early as 1896 but the plan | | | | spectacular minerals and formations inside. |
| was fraught with difficulty, not the least of | | | | There is a fifteen-pound limit for rock |
| which was the international implication of | | | | fishermen here.TELESCOPES. |
| diverting water from Mexico. A water rights | | | | |
| treaty was worked out on both sides of the | | | | A hike to the top of Tortugas Mountain in |
| border in 1906 and the Elephant Butte Dam, | | | | Las Cruces will bring you and the dog to a |
| now a state park near Truth or Consequences, | | | | 61-centimeter telescope reflector in use for |
| was completed a decade later. The concrete | | | | the last 25 years, creating one of the |
| dam is one of the earliest and most important | | | | largest planetary archives available in the |
| linchpins in the Bureau of Reclamation's | | | | U.S. It is currently being used to monitor |
| overall plan for water in the West. Not as | | | | storm systems on Jupiter.VOLCANOES. |
| ornate, but a few years older, is the | | | | |
| Leasburg Dam.FORTS. | | | | Hunts Hole and Kilbourne Hole are "maar |
| | | | volcanoes." They formed as a result of |
| Camp Furlong, in the border town of | | | | volcanic explosions, resulting from hot magma |
| Columbus, New Mexico, was the staging ground | | | | coming into contact with ground water or |
| for General John "Black Jack" Pershing and | | | | shallow surface water. This contact changed |
| his 10,000-man Punitive Expedition to hunt | | | | the surface water into steam, causing an |
| down Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in | | | | explosion that blew volcanic glass and other |
| 1916. Pershing invaded 400 miles intoMexico | | | | material out of the ground. The black rock |
| but never caught Villa. Several buildings | | | | you see as you hike around the rim or descend |
| remain from Camp Furlong in Pancho Villa | | | | into the crater is lava rock called Afton |
| State Park: a rec hall, camp headquarters and | | | | basalt.copyright 2006I am the author of over |
| the judge advocate's office among | | | | 20 books, including 8 on hiking with your |
| them.FOSSILS. | | | | dog, including the widely praised The Canine |
| | | | Hiker's Bible. As publisher of Cruden Bay |
| The Robdelo Mountains contain an abundance | | | | Books, we produce the innovative A Bark In |
| of well-preserved vertebrate and invertebrate | | | | The Park series of canine hiking books found |
| tracks from the Early Permian age 286 million | | | | at During the warm months I lead canine |
| years ago. Marine fossils are common on Crazy | | | | hikes as tour leader for tours, leading packs |
| Cat Mountain trails.GRAVES. | | | | of dogs and humans on day and overnight |
| | | | trips. |
| Concordia Cemetery contains 65,000 of them | | | | |