Portales

city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States

Portales is a small, fairly quiet college and agricultural town in Southeast New Mexico, United States. Home of Eastern New Mexico University. Nearest sizable town is Clovis; close to Cannon Air Force Base. Located almost adjacent to the Texas border. 90 miles from Roswell of UFO fame.

Administration Building at Eastern New Mexico University

Get in

Portales is located on the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) in extreme eastern New Mexico, at the junction of US 70, NM 206 and NM 267. These roads are all good but rather remote, and can be troublesome during winter blizzards. The nearest air service is via commuter lines into the airport at Clovis, about 15 miles away.

Get around

Walk or drive your own car. No local bus or taxi service.

See

  • Eastern New Mexico University has the usual small-college features, and maintains two museums: Blackwater Draw Museum off US 70, which preserves artifacts from a nearby archaeological site of some significance, and Roosevelt County Museum on campus, with the usual collection of items of local historical interest.

Do

  • 🌍 Blackwater Draw Site, 508 Route 467, ☏ +1 575 356-5235. Sa-Su 9AM-4PM. The archaeological site associated with ENMU's museum (see above), is available for visits during much of the year. Open 9-5 daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day; closed November-March; 9-5 Sa-Su other months. Fee $3, several discounts apply. There are a couple of short interpretive trails. This site (formally known as Blackwater Locality 1) is significant as the place where "Clovis man" was discovered (generations of children learned that Clovis Man was the oldest human ancestor in the Americas, though archaeologists now believe there may be older human settlements). 

Buy

Eat

Drink

  • Roosevelt Brewing Company, 201 S. Main Ave (Downtown, across from the County Courthouse), ☏ +1 575-226-2739. 11:30AM-9PM, closed Sun-Mon. Casual eatery and local craft brewery featuring pub grub and innovative pizzas. (updated Aug 2022)

Sleep

Go next

Routes through Portales
Las Cruces ← Roswell ←  SW  NE  → Clovis → Plainview


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