Albuquerque Outdoor Activities

Designed as an oasis of family fun, Putt-Putt Golf and Games entertains all ages with three 18-hole Putt-Putt Golf Courses, more than 50 arcade and prize-redemption games, and a snack bar packed with pizza and soda. On the outdoor courses, kids putt past giant tortoises and colorful mushrooms as adults hone their short games. Additionally, a game room rings with the bells and whistles of Fruit Ninja, Monster Drop, Deal or No Deal, Big Bass Wheel, Skee-Ball, and more, and a snack bar filled with treats makes the center a memorable birthday-party location or presidential-inauguration site.

Deep Blue Scuba's certified instructors lead each of their classes and workshops with one idea at the forefront of their minds: diving should be fun. Their class list contains programs to challenge all levels of divers, from beginner and advanced open-water-diving courses to rescue diver and dive-master specialties. To prepare pupils for their certifications, the staff hosts regular trips and events and oversees scheduled lessons in classrooms, dive pools, open water, and octopus’s gardens.

Parents and children enjoy an afternoon of all-ages activities and local eats during the family-friendly prelude to Red Wine & Blues: A Taste of Albuquerque. Youth can carefully whack balls across greens during games of mini golf or ask artists to paint their faces with sparkly unicorns and fake IDs. Local restaurants including Kelly's, JC's Pizza, and Tomato Cafe will have tasty treats and teach children about nutritious snacking. A silent auction will serve as a venue for mimes to auction off their unused voices. Funds from the Mini Taste of Albuquerque go to benefit the Junior League of Albuquerque’s hunger-prevention projects and food pantries.

High Desert Hang Gliding's well-practiced instructors teach beginning aviators how to soar through the sky with a hang glider. All students begin on a 25-foot training hill, where they learn the basics of launching and landing before being cleared to take off into the wild blue yonder to rendezvous with handsome pterodactyls. With a course of 10 lessons, ambitious gliders can attain a solid understanding of ground-school theory, acquire the ability to fly without direct instructor supervision, and procure enough knowledge to pass the USHPA Novice Hang Gliding written exam.

The sun dances on the placid surface of the Rio Grande river, the wind carving peaks and valleys in the cerulean fabric of the water. A windsurfing board suddenly tears across this calm waterway, propelled by the wind and the shouts of jubilant windsurfers nearby. Obscure terminology and sailing theory soon fade into the background as students fly across the river during a windsurfing lesson, in which instructors provide encouragement and advice. When not chasing sandwich-stealing mermaids, instructors lead lessons in the slower-paced methods of standup paddle boarding, taking newcomers through intro classes on the Rio Grande and the more experienced on half-day excursions on Cochiti Lake.

Dotted with 12 stations, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express’s 100 miles of track stretches between Belen and Santa Fe. Passengers can bring their own food and non-alcoholic drinks aboard as they roll to hub-like stations, which provide easy access to Santa Fe Plaza, Bio Park, and bustling Santa Fe neighborhoods such as Nob Hill, Uptown, and Old Town. On Saturdays, artists from the University of New Mexico Theater Department spice up 506 and 509 train rides with classic Shakespeare performances that feature the ghost of Hamlet’s father wearing a conductor’s cap.