Boating and watersports: these include sailing dinghies, catamarans and houseboats; and water skiing, jet skis, wind surfing and diving. Locations include the lakes of Bluewater, Navajo, Carlsbad and Santa Rose. Boat camping, where supplies and facilities are taken out to various points around the waterways to set up camp, is also becoming very popular.
Camping and hiking: areas include national parks, lakelands, desert and canyonlands. There are hundreds of trails and campgrounds, including some in several Indian reservations. In the northwest, the Navajo reservation extends through much of the region; the northeast offers trails along the Sangre de Cristos slopes, as well as the Carlson and Santa Fe forests and Cimarron Canyon State Park. The southwest has the Aldo Leopard, Blue Range and Gila wilderness areas.
Fishing: in some 6,000 miles of perennial streams and 170 lakes and reservoirs, including ice fishing in winter. Many Indian pueblos and reservations offer public fishing for trout.
Hot air ballooning: the valleys around Albuquerque are ideal for hot-air ballooning, when early-morning summer temperatures of 60 degrees provide ideal conditions for flights as the thermals begin to rise.
Whitewater rafting: the north-central region is the best for rafting, kayaking and canoeing, encompassing the northern Rio Grande as well as the Chama and Red rivers. Other locations include the 25-mile stretch of the Animas River from the Colorado border; and Pecos and Gila rivers, the latter offering 90 miles of rafting in a region which includes the Chihuahuan Desert.