Which day of the week is best for driving New Mexico Highway 28 north out of Anthony? For about two months, the answer was the maze's answer: Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday, because those were the only days La Union Maze opened. That schedule ends Sunday, Nov. 8. The rest of the road has no season to end. Each stop keeps its own weekly hours, and the hours don't line up on the weekend.
The Maze's Final Three Days
La Union Maze, at 1101 Highway 28 in Anthony, New Mexico, closes for the year on Sunday, Nov. 8, according to KFOX14's season preview. The final weekend runs on the usual 2026 hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
- Friday, Nov. 6: Regular evening hours. The Haunted Maze was planned for Friday and Saturday of the final weekend, but it only runs on select evenings, so confirm before you go.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: The annual fireworks and drone show closes out the season, and Pumpkin Smash activities begin.
- Sunday, Nov. 8: Pumpkin Smash continues, and it's Bring Your Dog to the Maze Day. Dogs must stay leashed, and owners should bring shot records.
Plan to pay by card. The venue takes credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and its own gift cards for most purchases, and it asks visitors to sign waivers online before they arrive. The maze's own site lists the same address and hours. Get to the pumpkin patch early. The cow trains and the wagon ride out to the patch run only in daylight.
This year's 13-acre maze is split into two routes. The short one takes about 15 to 20 minutes and the long one 30 minutes to an hour. The design honors New Mexico agriculture and includes a "250" for the nation's anniversary. The food menu has something new as well:
"We have our brisket nachos. They are a fan favorite. But we have some new items this year like our loaded brisket mac and cheese."
That's manager Kristen Dorman speaking to KFOX14.
North From 1101, in Address Order
After Nov. 8, the stretch of Highway 28 from Anthony through La Union, La Mesa and San Miguel works more like a string of regular businesses. Sierra Vista Growers describes the drive as "the 28 miles to Mesilla through beautiful Pecan Orchards." Here are the stops with fixed addresses and posted hours, from south to north:
- Sierra Vista Growers, 2800 NM Highway 28, La Union. A retail and wholesale nursery that has grown plants suited to the Chihuahuan desert since 1987. The garden center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It sells native trees and plants, bulk compost and topsoil, and farm-fresh eggs, listed at $5.99 a dozen. Stock varies, so the nursery asks shoppers to call ahead at 575-201-5064.
- GroWild Cafe & Events, connected to Sierra Vista Growers. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- La Viña Winery, 4201 South Highway NM-28, La Union. Visit El Paso lists La Viña as a maker of estate-bottled New Mexico wines. The tasting room is open noon to 5:30 p.m. every day except Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Chope's Bar & Café, 16145 NM-28, La Mesa. Mexican food, with the bar and the café in separate rooms. Visit El Paso lists it as open noon to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, and closed Monday through Wednesday. Those hours come from a tourism directory, so call before you make the drive. Sierra Vista's site sends its visitors here for chile rellenos.
- City Market, S. NM Highway 28, San Miguel. The Las Cruces Bulletin reported in December 2025 that the store had reached 100 years in business. Eulogio Borunda opened it in 1925, and his daughter Estella runs it today, still ringing up sales on a century-old Remington cash register. The Bulletin put its hours at Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It stocks the basics: sodas, cheese, tortilla chips.
Sierra Vista's site also suggests wine tasting at Zin Valle on the same route. Zin Valle Vineyards is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and its calendar lists music on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, 2026. That means it overlaps with the maze's last weekend.
The Days the Whole Road Is Open
Lay those posted hours side by side and the weekend turns out to be the hardest time to see the whole corridor in one trip.
| Stop | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Vista Growers | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| GroWild Cafe | Closed | Closed | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| La Viña Winery | Open | Closed | Closed | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| Chope's Bar & Café | Closed | Closed | Closed | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| City Market, San Miguel | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open | Closed | Closed |
| Zin Valle Vineyards | Closed | Closed | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open |
Thursday and Friday are the only columns with no closures. On Saturday and Sunday, every stop is open except City Market, the one that has been on the road since 1925. Early in the week, the eating and drinking stops close down. Chope's is closed three days in a row, and La Viña is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
The time of day matters too. Chope's has the latest hours on the road, open until 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Everything else closes in the afternoon. GroWild closes at 3, City Market and Sierra Vista at 5, Zin Valle at 5 and La Viña at 5:30. If you want to fit everything in, start in the morning at the southern end and finish at Chope's, the one stop open into the evening.
The Orchards That Line the Drive
From La Union north, most of the drive runs between pecan trees. New Mexico Magazine describes miles of trees in tidy rows along NM 28 south of Mesilla. It traces New Mexico's first significant commercial orchard to 1932, when Deane Stahmann planted it, and says he planted many of the trees along this highway. The same article says the harvest kicks off in November, in time for Thanksgiving tables.
So the orchards are at their busiest just as the maze shuts down. Even so, the trees along the road don't come with a farm stand. Stahmanns describes itself as a wholesale pecan operation that sells bulk nuts to commercial and industrial buyers through its sales contacts, and its site lists no public visiting hours or walk-in shop. Sierra Vista Growers, the nursery on the same stretch, advertises eggs, plants and compost, not nuts.
The closest place with a confirmed address for buying local pecans is off Highway 28, at New Mexico Pecan Company, 102 Watson Ln in Las Cruces. Its online catalog sells shelled and in-shell pecans. Call before you go, since the company's own site doesn't post store hours. For a Thanksgiving pie, a Thursday or Friday trip up 28 can take in the orchards, lunch in La Mesa and the San Miguel market, with a turn toward Las Cruces for the nuts.
Dogs, After Dog Day
Sunday's Bring Your Dog to the Maze Day is the maze's last event of the year. Sierra Vista Growers, farther north on the same road, invites families to stroll its greenhouse and gardens and says dogs are always welcome on a leash, seven days a week. The maze's dog day happens once a season. At Sierra Vista, leashed dogs are welcome any day it's open.
The orchard parcels, farm frontage and small acreage along NM 28 have their own questions, from water to access to which side of the state line a parcel sits on. If the drive up Highway 28 has you looking more closely at the land along it, International Real Estate and broker David Torres can walk you through what a specific parcel would take to buy, build on or hold. Schedule a Consultation / Agenda tu consulta.
