sunspot visitor center and museum

We were excited to visit the museum and the NSO (National Solar Observatory). The vista on the ascent to Sunspot from Cloudcroft was beautiful. There were stops along the way that overlooked White Sands where we actually observed a missile launch! Once at Sunspot, however, it was more than a little underwhelming. The tiny community of Sunspot consists of scientists that work at the observatory. The museum is okay but not worth the fee. The observation areas for tourists were mediocre (one can observes the scientists at work....we were told would be soon moving to sights in Colorado and/or Hawaii). Some of the displays for visitors were not working. If you have the time and are truly interested in this type of work......go. Otherwise, drive on.

First off, the drive to the location is stunning. From Cloudcroft to the the center is about 15 miles of road that twists and turns through pines and aspens with vistas of the mountain range and the expansive valley below. Once I arrived at the parking lot, it is just a tiny walk to the museum. The walk to the observatory is slightly farther but we were rewarded with seeing about 20 mule deer that were grazing within about 30 feet from us. The major observatory facility looks like something out of a sci-fi movie......sort of an 80 foot lighthouse perched on top of the mountain. Visitors are welcome inside. The scientists can dumb down their answers to the questions so even a layman like me can learn something. I drove away afterward with images in my head that I will never forget.

Sunspot is a small collection of houses and trailers, probably for people, who run the Apache Point Observatory. There is a road that ends at the parking lot for the museum. It is a small museum. There might have been about 10 cars there. Inside there is information about astronomy. The museum is not that big and would probably not be worth a visit, except if one has driven the Sunspot Scenic Byway to the end (about 19 miles from Cloudcroft), that's all there is to see, except the exterior of the Apache Point Observatory and its view--down another road, just before you reach Sunspot itself.