It’s no secret that both of us love the mountains, which is largely what has kept both of us out west for the past 7-8 years. We hope that those of you who are traveling from out of town will be able to stay awhile! Here are a few ideas of things you can do, both in Santa Fe & around the western U.S.
In & around Santa Fe:
If you only have a couple of days, here are a few things we’d recommend.
Albuquerque
* Sandia Peak Tramway (World’s longest Aerial Tramway) http://www.sandiapeak.com/. The tram will take you to the top of the Sandia mountain. There’s a restaurant at the top. It’s pricey for dinner, but a great place to sit, enjoy a beverage of your choice, and watch the sun set before you ride the tram back down.
* Turquoise Trail - the "back way" between Albuquerque & Santa Fe. A must do if you’ve seen the movie Road Hogs (the road goes through Madrid) http://www.turquoisetrail.org/
Santa Fe - General tourism information can be found at http://www.santafe.org/
* Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Famous artist if you haven’t heard of her. Museum is worthwhile to go to. http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
* Walk around the plaza & wander through the shops & galleries (caution: Santa Fe shopping is expensive!)
* Wander through the art galleries & restaurants on Canyon Road.
* Take a mountain drive up towards the ski area. If you’re up for it take a hike (we recommend Aspen Vista Trail which starts at an elevation of 9k) - http://santafe.org/Visiting_Santa_Fe/Things_to_Do/Hiking/index.html.
* Go whitewater rafting. May is a great time for this due to the snowmelt. http://santafe.org/Visiting_Santa_Fe/Things_to_Do/Rafting/index.html
* Go for a hike or moutain bike ride. There are shops in town such as http://www.santafemountainsports.com that will rent mtn bikes for about $35-$75/day depending on the model.
* Play a round of Golf. Learn more here- http://www.golfnewmexico.com
* Grab lunch at one of Chris & Kara’s favorites. If you’re in the mood for southwestern & some red or green chilie, we recommend checking out the Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery or try the The Shed restaurant. If personal gourmet pizzas, salads, or sandwichs (all at very affordable prices) & a microbrew sound good, then head over to Il Vicino. We’ve labeled these locations on the "Downtown Santa Fe Map". Use the link in the lower lefthand corner to figure out which little icon is what location.
Taos & the Enchanted Circle
** If you don’t have much time to spend traveling, this is in our favorite region of New Mexico. Use Taos or Red River as your base for this option. Or, you can make it a day trip from Santa Fe, but it would be a pretty long day. Taos is 2.5 hrs north of Albuquerque and about 1.5 hrs from Santa Fe.
* Taos is a unique New Mexican town that is similar in feel to Santa Fe but it’s smaller and more intimate.
*Our favorite restaurant in Taos is a small pizza place called Taos Pizza Outback. It’s nothing fancy, but the pizza is great. The white pizza is delicious. http://www.taosdining.com/content/view/19/3/
* The enchanted circle is a loop around Wheeler Peak, the tallest mountain in New Mexico (just over 13k ft). Start in Taos, drive to Angel Fire, then up to Eagle’s Nest, through Red River, then Questa, and back to Taos. (You could also reverse this loop.) We’d time it so that you stop for lunch in Red River, a beautiful little mountain town. http://www.redriver.org/enchanted-circle
Los Alamos
* You can visit the town responsible for building the Atomic Bomb. It’s only about an hour from Santa Fe.
Beyond New Mexico:
If you have more than a weekend, we’d strongly recommend traveling beyond New Mexico. Here are a few of our favorite road trips.
Arizona: Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona
** If you’ve never been there before, we’d strongly recommend taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Most people who travel to the Grand Canyon will use Flagstaff as a base due to limited lodging options up by the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff is about a 5 hour drive from Albuquerque; the Grand Canyon is about an hour & a half north of Flagstaff.
* Unless you are going to hike down into it, one day is sufficient to see the main sites at the Grand Canyon. If you’re going to hike down into it – you’re on your own since we’ve never done it! May should be a nice time of year to go though – it won’t be as hot & crowded as in the summertime. For Grand Canyon information: http://www.nps.gov/grca/
* Flagstaff is a nice little town at ~7000 ft elevation that stays much cooler than southern Arizona. It’s worth a visit to their downtown area. We’d also recommend eating at Beaver Street Brewery while in Flagstaff – they have good food & great beer for a small brewery. http://www.beaverstreetbrewery.com/ For general Flagstaff information: http://www.flagstaffarizona.org/
* If you have another day or two, the drive down to Sedona is worth it too. The drive between Flagstaff & Sedona is beautiful. We haven’t spent much time in Sedona so we can’t give you a lot of recommendations but it’s definitely a beautiful place. http://www.visitsedona.com/
* On the drive out to Flagstaff, you’ll also pass the Petrified Forest & the Painted Desert – unless you’ve got extra time – or you’re a geologist at heart - we’d skip both of these. After seeing the Grand Canyon, you’ll be disappointed!
Southern Utah: Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands
** Southeastern Utah is full of postcard images. For this option, use Moab as your base. Moab is located about 6.5 hours from Albuquerque.
* Moab is an outdoor lovers mecca. Both Arches National Park & Canyonlands National Park are within a short drive of Moab. http://www.discovermoab.com/
* Arches National Park is a must do. Don’t forget your camera! http://www.nps.gov/arch/
* Canyonlands National Park is also very cool – there are a couple distinct regions of the park. http://www.nps.gov/cany/
* If you’re just going to do the drive through of Arches & Canyonlands, you can probably hit both of them in a day, but two will give you more time.
* The drive through Monument Valley is also neat, but it’s a bit out of the way so it really depends on how much time you have. http://www.utah.com/monumentvalley/
* You can also hit the Four Corners Monument (where Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico meet) on this trip. It’s a bit overrated, but I’m sure kids would love it. http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/four_corners.htm
* We’ve always wanted to go to Zion (http://www.nps.gov/zion) & Bryce Canyons (http://www.nps.gov/brca) as well, but have never had the chance to go there (those are more Southwestern Utah. If you had a full week to travel, we bet you could also work those in too.
Southwestern Colorado – Durango & the San Juan Skyway
** Durango is one of our favorite western towns. We spend quite a bit of time up there skiing in the winters but the summers are also beautiful. Durango is a short 3.5 hrs from Albuquerque.
* In Durango itself there is a small downtown area that is nice to walk through. One of our favorite restaurants is in Downtown Durango - Steamworks Brewery (http://www.steamworksbrewing.com/).
* Around Durango, there is the Durango-Silverton Railroad that is supposed to be fabulous – we’ve never actually done it (it’s on our to do list) but the scenery between Durango & Silverton is breathtaking so I can only imagine that it would live up to its reputation (http://www.durangotrain.com/).
* If you have more time, there is a scenic loop that we’ve done before called the San Juan Skyway. It does a loop from Durango to Silverton to Ouray to Telluride and back to Durango. Unbelievable scenery on this drive – I’d plan on spending the night somewhere in the western part of the loop (when we did it we stopped in Telluride). The loop itself isn’t that long but you’ll be stopping for pictures at every pull out. http://www.godurango.com/swcolorado/sanjuanskyway.asp On the south end of the loop, you’ll go by Mesa Verde National Park. Again, we’ll admit that we’ve never been there – the one time we tried it was closed due to forest fires. But it’s an ancestral pueblo & the pictures look cool. http://www.nps.gov/meve/
Denver & Rocky Mountain National Park
** Denver is about 7 hours north of Albuquerque. The Rocky Mountain National Park is about an hour & a half past that near Estes Park, CO.
* Rocky Mountain National Park is the Rocky Mountains at their finest. You’ll see wildlife along the road & there are some amazing hikes up there. http://www.nps.gov/ROMO/
* There are plenty of scenic drives up in Colorado. We’ve found that you really can’t go wrong – just take your map out & head to a place that’s designated as a scenic drive (most of them have green dots along the routes). Colorado is beautiful. You really can’t go wrong.
* Denver is a major city and there is plenty to do there. Just get a guidebook & go exploring!
