Exploring Sante Fe, New Mexico by Hal Peat
Featured Hotel in Santa Fe
Eldorado Hotel & Spa
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Surrounded by millions of acres of national forest and public land, Santa Fe, New Mexico is an ideal jumping off point for a wide variety of outdoor activities. Skiing, hiking, biking, riding, rafting and kayaking are some of the more popular activities to take advantage of - but when you’re not busy with these, Santa Fe itself is also a fascinating little city to explore and enjoy within the limits of its downtown and outlying neighborhoods.
Founded in 1610, Santa Fe (or “City of the Holy Faith”) is the oldest and also the highest (at around 7,000 feet) of any American state capitol, yet this relaxed and beautiful town hardly seems like a seat of government, though it always has been from its earliest beginnings. Government buildings here (when you notice them at all) are usually part of the distinct southwestern architecture.
Santa Fe above all is harmonious: past, present and future plus a mix of Native American, Hispanic and European traditions synergize here to create this community’s unique environment and energy.
Indoors
There’s plenty of fine accommodation in and around this relatively small city, so it isn’t difficult to choose your inn, hotel or resort with a view to your planned activities outdoors. For instance, if your focus is on doing some easy onsite activity like horseback riding, hiking, tennis or swimming, with the occasional visit into town, you couldn’t do better than putting up at The Bishop’s Lodge. This 1,000 acre historic ranch has all the full-service amenities of a contemporary deluxe resort with all the atmosphere and tranquility of a comfortable and inviting lodge of a pioneer century.
The rooms certainly reflect this combination of design and comfort, in a style ranging from New Mexican, Santa Fe and Spanish Colonial – many with real wood-burning kiva fireplaces. On the grounds, you can book tennis, skeet-and-trap-shooting range, use the swimming pool or all-new fitness and spa center, or go riding. Located at the city limits and about three miles from downtown, the 1,000 acre Lodge extends into rolling foothills and valley adjacent to the Santa Fe National Forest.
One of the great pleasures of the Lodge's locations is this proximity to the nature of the region: don't miss taking a self-guided nature walk before venturing to the 7700' viewpoint above the Lodge. There is a system of marked trails with a detailed hiking map; unmarked trails await the more adventurous in the nearby National Forest.
While there’s much to occupy yourself with actively outdoor right on the ranch’s premises, the atmosphere is blissfully low-key and relaxed rather than high-paced, and a great part of the pleasure of being outdoor even on the property may consist of simply imbibing the surrounding vistas of mountains and forests with a glass of wine in your hand out on the terrace adjacent to the restaurant bar.
If you prefer to be within a few minutes walking distance of the city’s central Plaza area and maze of downtown shops, galleries, museums and cafés, on the other hand, while also imbibing an atmosphere that is quintessential Santa Fe, then you couldn’t choose better than staying at The Inn of the Anasazi.
As you pas through its massive hand carved doors, you’re confronted by an elegant microcosm of the New Mexican lifestyle: sculpted stairways, T-shaped doors and sandstone walls create the feeling of entering a prehistoric ruin. Huge cactus in terracotta pots stand sentry in public rooms and corridors. Textiles, paintings, carvings and baskets from the Inn's collection represent artists of New Mexico's three cultures --Native American, Hispanic and Anglo.
The Inn’s 51 guest rooms and eight suites have gaslit fireplaces and four-poster beds. The Anasazi Restaurant serves a combination that honors the culinary legacies of of the earth from the Native American, foods of the soul from the Northern New Mexican and foods of substance from the American Cowboy, grown by regional organic farmers.
Outdoors
At any time of year, there are some excellent options to get you out into the spectacular country surrounding Santa Fe. The summer months see the greatest number of travelers to the city and region, however, even at this time of year once you leave downtown. If you’re a river enthusiast of any kind, then there’s adventure out on the nearby Rio Grande, which offers both kayaking and white water rafting, not to mention great scenery, and guide services are available to lead groups or individuals.
Trips can range from a lazy glide past colorful mesas, to a thrilling ride on Class V rapids through the Taos Box, a 17-mile run on the upper Rio Grande. There's something for all experience levels, including half-day, full day and overnight trips. Other rivers include the Pecos, Rio Chama and Jemez.
If you prefer more earthbound exercise, there are hiking trails for walks, birdwatching or backpacking that crisscross the nearby Santa Fe and Carson National Forests offering hikes that start and stop right outside of the city or major treks into the Pecos Wilderness. Closest to town is popular Atalaya Mountain with two trailheads — one at Ponderosa Ridge development, the other at St. John’s College.
Named after the Spanish word for watchtower, the Atalaya ridge rises east of Santa Fe and provides some breathtaking vistas of the town and the surrounding valley. Depending on where you start, Atalaya is either a 5.5- or 7-mile hike, with an elevation gain of 1,600-plus feet. The mostly shaded trail meanders through low scrub before heading uphill through forests of piñon-juniper, ponderosa, and Douglas fir.
Assuming your leg muscles are fairly well-conditioned for endurance and your lungs are also strong, you can do the hike in under two hours, however the atmosphere may inspire you to pace it more leisurely and take three to four. Since the weather conditions are usually fine, consdider bringing a picnic and lunch on the summit. This hike is also superb during sunset.
On the road toward Hyde State Park and the Ski Basin, you’ll find many trails leading into the Santa Fe National Forest. Of these, Chamisa is a relatively easy 5-mile jaunt into the wilderness. The narrow deeply forested trail switchbacks to a view of a nearby canyon before continuing on to a meadow (lunch spot) and the junction with the longer Winsor Trail. If your visit coincides with a hot spell, the Chamisa trail is a great option for a cool hike. And the deep forest, wildflower-covered meadows and rich bird life make you feel like you’re far from town.
One easily accessible hike not far from the city limits is the hill on which rests the Cross of the Martyrs. A brief ascent takes you up a trail to the hilltop on which stands the white cross commemorating the crucifixion of Christ and other religious martyrs. While there are other trails leading from atop, the value of this climb will be in the closeup and intimate vista of Santa Fe and its environs. No fee for using the trail here, just enter the trailhead at Paseo del Peralta and Hillside Ave. (1 block north of E. Marcy).
If you’re inclined toward letting local expert operators put your hiking adventure together from beginning to end, and lead you on a trek that is further from town, then consider Wild Earth Llama Adventures, which takes you out on day-long and multi-day treks with destinations like Carson National Forest and Santa Fe National Forest. Friendly llamas do all the packwork of course, along with carrying your gourmet lunch and any overnight gear.
Aside from the many adventures on water and foot you can find hereabouts, don’t overlook the other opportunities by way of jeep, bike, on horseback or ski and snowboard in the winter season. For equine adventure, you’ll find that guided horseback rides can be arranged into the local foothills, Galisteo Basin or Pecos Wilderness, while jeep tours take visitors onto the seldom traveled back roads of Northern New Mexico. In addition to the riding facilities available for guests at The Bishop’s Lodge, there is Galarosa Stable which provides rentals by the half day or full day.
There is abundant biking terrain around Santa Fe. Plan your own route with the help of a map of suggested bike trips at the Convention & Visitors Bureau (it includes a 30 mile roundtrip from downtown Santa Fe to the Santa Fe Ski Area). Singular Journeys at 125 E. Palace Ave, which runs bike tours, is another resource that can assist you with routing. Bikes and accessories can be rented from Palace Bike Rentals at 409 E. Palace Ave or New Mexico Bike'N'Sport, 905 S. St. Francis Dr, which has full-suspension rigs for $30 a day.
And while Taos may have the mystique among elite skiers, Santa Fe’s own world-class mountain in the Sangre de Cristo range does offer some fine powder. The 12,053-foot summit at Ski Santa Fe has 1,650 vertical feet of skiing and 43 runs winding through some of the most stunning terrain in the country.
Close To and Around Town
Above all, Santa Fe is a town to explore on foot: it’s compact, but always visually intriguing with its amalgam of southwestern, Spanish colonial and contemporary architecture set into winding but walker-friendly streets and alleys. Window gazing? There are definitely windows to look into on just about every street where you don’t also find yourself hopping inside to explore an exhibit, taste the cuisine, or check out the world-famous local craftsmanship.
One of the most interesting streets to hit on any adventure by foot within Santa Fe is Canyon Road; about eight blocks southeast of the plaza, this two mile avenue is the most exclusive address in town and while it’s somewhat off the beaten path of downtown has become a magnet for its own share of fine galleries, restaurants and shops. This is also the place to “cowboy up” as far as acquiring any authentic and well-made western gear such as cowboy boots, nowadays a fashion statement but also very functional if you’re taking any horseback trips.
A wide-brimmed hat is essential in open country to heat, rain and insects, while a colorful bandana will help protect you from sunburn and windburn and even serve as a mask in a sudden windstorm on a hike. Stop in at Santa Fe Boot Company for boots by all the major manufacturers or accessories, but there are numerous shops to browse amongst for any items like this. As with everything else here, take your time.
Even if you’re not usually the museum kind of traveler, the museum experience in Santa Fe is really an integral and not to missed way of accessing the spirit, history and culture of the region. The Georgia O’Keefe Museum is an excellent spot to soak in the contemporary but timeless spirit of the southwest as it’s expressed in over 80 of this great American artist’s work: look at the large-scale desert flowers and bleached desert bones on her canvases and you’ll start to understand what keeps on attracting so many creative geniuses to this part of the world.
To delve into the traditional art of the region, however, a vsiit to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the nearby Wheelright Museum of the American Indian along Camino Lejo in southeast Santa Fe.
If you’re up to a different kind of museum experience outside the town perimeters, then consider a visit to El Rancho de las Golondrinas: 15 miles south of Santa Fe, this 200-acre living history museum retains its early 17th-century atmosphere when it was founded as a stopoff on the Camino Real (royal road), its museum displays facets of eighteenth-century life on a working Spanish colonial ranch, but the real eye-opener is the more extensive outdoor recreation of ranching of that period, with animal life, orchards and crops showing you how it was.
Spring and fall festivals (held the first full weekend in June and the first full weekend in October, respectively) feature crafts ranging from rug weaving, blacksmithing and wheelwrighting to sugarcane being turned into molasses with the labor of a burr-driven press.
Santa Fe is a place of sensory and above all visual experience, so allow yourself time and energy for the pleasures of walking in random fashion around some of the many streets leading to and from the downtown plaza: these are filled with a real variety of shops and galleries. Once you’re here, you find yourself easily attuned to a city where time seems to move at a much gentler pace than most urban environments.
Santa Fe takes you out of yourself and into the sensory experience of its textures and surfaces, ancient and new, its adobe and wood structures concealing all kinds of surprises for you to check out around the next winding street. Past, present and future all come together here, and somehow it all works in the life of a city where you can look at ancient Native American artifacts on one street, admire contemporary art on the next and look at your e-mail at a café around yet another corner.