Autumn Celebration Set in the Land of Fire and Ice

Date:	September 09, 1998
Contact:	Mike Cook, (505) 646-8009, redtt@nmsu.edu
Editor:	Sandra Avant, (505) 646-2703, edit1@nmsu.edu

LAS CRUCES Ð Bandera Volcano's blazing heat and the Ice Cave's freezing temperatures will provide a unique setting for the Autumn Celebration of Colors Sept. 18-20.

The Ice Cave and Bandera Crater are located on New Mexico Highway 53, about 26 miles southwest of Grants.

The fall harvest celebration will include tours, horse rides, a farmers' market, an Indian market, arts and crafts displays, and chile roasting and tasting.

"The sunlight never penetrates the Ice Cave and temperatures never rise above 31 degrees," said Mike Cook, technical writer with New Mexico State University's Rural Economic Development Through Tourism (REDTT) project. "The floor of the cave is a collapsed lava tube and is covered with a layer of ice 20-feet thick. The deepest and oldest ice in the cave may date to around 170 A.D."

Bandera Volcano, located nearby, is the largest volcano in the area, he said. It erupted about 10,000 years ago and left a lava flow nearly 23 miles long. The crater is almost 1,200 feet wide at the top and about 750 feet deep. Elevation at the lookout point is more than 8,100 feet.

"Trails leading to the Ice Cave and Bandera Crater begin at the trading post, which was built in the 1930s when the Zuni Mountain Railroad was still active and the log industry was in full operation," Cook said. "Ancient artifacts, dating back 800 to 1,200 years, are on display at the trading post."

For more information about the festival, contact Jeff Alford at 1-888-ICE-CAVE or visit their web site at www.icecaves.com.

REDTT, a program of NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service, promotes agriculture through tourism.