I'm sure you'll get tons of recommendations around the big cities, but if you're looking for something in the remote west Texas/New Mexico border area, check out:
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It's in NM, but about 1.5 hours north off the I-10 from Van Horn, TX, per Google maps. They have bats fly out the cave every evening, depending on time of year of your trip. (
https://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm)
- A little further west, you have the White Sands National Monument, an hour off the I-10 at Las Cruces, NM. (
https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm)
- If you're feeling landlocked while in that region and need to see some water, Elephant Butte Lake State Park (NM) is around there. (
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/spd/ele...statepark.html
- If you're really feeling daring, perhaps a crossing into Juarez, Mexico? I was stationed about an hour away and we were banned from going there in the late 2000s. I've heard it's improved, but I think it's still risky.
