Driving Time From Albuquerque to US National Parks

By
Darren Smith
Darren Smith
Darren Smith is an editor and writer specializing in the national parks found in the United States and Canada
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Updated on 06/26/19
The mountainous landscape outside of Albuquerque
Alex Fedorov / EyeEm / Getty Images

If you are in Albuquerque, New Mexico and want to plan a drive to U.S. National Parks and National Monuments in the Southwest, you'll want to know how far away each is and how long it will take to drive there.

Some are easy day trips, including Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico, which is in Albuquerque itself. Others are going to be a real road trip and you may want to plan where you'll be staying before the drive back.

Use table below for information on driving distances and approximate drive time from Albuquerque to selected US National Parks. You may want to map out a route that will take in more than one. For example, you can plan a trip to eastern Utah to visit Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef and take in Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado along the way.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Destination National Park

 Driving Distance Approximate
Drive Time		 Notes
Arches National Park, Utah 392 miles 7 hours Northeast of Albuquerque, in eastern Utah. It is next to Canyonlands National Park
Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico 181 miles 3 hours Located near the town of Aztec in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. It is south of Mesa Verde National Park
Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico 105 miles 2 hours It can be a destination on the Jemez Mountain Trail Byway scenic drive
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah 606 miles 10 hours Located in southwestern Utah. Often visited together with Zion National Park
Canyonlands National Park, Utah 454 miles 9 hours Located in eastern Utah, next to Arches National Park
Capitol Reef National Park 464 miles 9 hours Located in central Utah, a road trip there would likely pass by Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Capulin Volcano National Monument, New Mexico 256 miles 4 hours In northeastern New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico 300 miles 6 hours In southeastern New Mexico
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico 152 miles 3 hours In northwestern New Mexico
El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico 78 miles 1.5 hours West of Albuquerque and an easy day trip.
Fort Union National Monument, New Mexico 145 miles 2.5 hours In northeastern New Mexico, off I-25
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico 284 miles 4.75 hours In southwestern New Mexico, north of Silver City
Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim), Arizona 407 miles 6 hours In northern Arizona. You are likely to pass the Petrified Forest National Park on the way. For fun, stop and stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona on the way as well
Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado 249 miles 4.5 hours Due north of Albuquerque in southern Colorado
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado 267 miles 5 hours Located in southwestern Colorado, north of Aztec Ruins National Monument
Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico 82 miles 1.5 hours An easy day trip destination east of Santa Fe
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona 214 miles 3 hours In northeastern Arizona, on the way to Grand Canyon National Park (south rim)
Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico 8 miles 15 minutes Located in western Albuquerque
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico 80 miles 1.5 hours A day trip southeast of Albuquerque
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico 225 miles 3.5 hours Located in southern New Mexico
Zion National Park, Utah 587 miles 10 hours Spectacular park in southwestern Utah, often seen together with Bryce Canyon National Park