Grants is the seat of Cibola County, straddling historic Route 66 between Albuquerque and Gallup on the east side of the Continental Divide. It is a working-class highway town that became the unlikely uranium capital of the world in the 1950s and 1960s — a story told at the New Mexico Mining Museum, the only uranium mining museum anywhere.
The main draw is the volcanic landscape surrounding the town. El Malpais National Monument protects a vast field of black basalt lava with a 17-mile lava tube cave system, natural arches, and trails that link Pueblo sites across the landscape. Southwest of Grants off Highway 53, Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave combine a cinder cone crater with a permanently frozen lava tube — the ice has been accumulating for over 3,000 years.
Route 66 runs through downtown as Santa Fe Avenue, lined with fading neon and a handful of original diners. The Monte Carlo, Jaramillo's, El Cafecito, and El Ranchero all serve proper New Mexican food. Nearby Acoma Pueblo — about 15 miles east — is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in North America. El Morro and Zuni Pueblo are half-day trips to the west. The Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center at Exit 85 off I-40 has free maps and staff who know the public lands in detail.