The Wild West: Silver City, New Mexico and the Gila Wilderness.

Watch this video to get a feel for today’s location!

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Silver City, NM 📍 #silvercity #silvercitynm #newmexico #exploreusa #travel

1870: America is in the thick of development and expansion. San Francisco, famous for its gold mining opportunities, has a population of just 149,000. Mining is taking off, and the West looks like all of the movies — full of saloons and gambling houses. Silver was just discovered in New Mexico, and a mining boom would follow, leading to the founding of Silver City and other western towns.

Situated in the foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains, the city was built over what was once an Apache campsite. And once mining slowed down, the city ran on ranching and agriculture. Today, Silver City has a modest population of about 10,000.

Silver City is also a great home base for those interested in exploring the Gila Wilderness, one of our nation’s most beautiful and diverse preservation areas.

The Gila Wilderness is more than 3 million acres large and is home to hot springs, the Gila River, and ancient Mogollon cliff dwellings — some dating back to the 13th century. You could spend a lifetime charting the Gila Wilderness without seeing it all, and it’s all worth seeing, so consider Silver City as your home in between days out exploring landmarks such as Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Aldo Leopold Wilderness, or the Catwalk Recreation Area — all within 40 miles of Silver City. If you don't know where to start, the Gila National Forest Visitor Center is in Silver City, so you won’t be without help!

The West is full of unique landscapes and history that many travelers overlook. The small towns of New Mexico have a certain aura of their past around them, and they are worth experiencing for yourself.

So, whether you’ll be exploring history-filled towns of the Wild West, or hiking alongside ancient Native American ruins, we hope to…

See you in Silver City!