Taos, Santa Fe, etc...

I'm planning a trip to the Taos/Santa Fe, NM area (as well as all over north central NM and south central CO. I'll be coming from North East KS, probably along US54 to US64 to US87 to Raton. From there, into Taos via US64... but from there, it's an open book... Any recommendations? We'll also be tent camping, so recommendations for state park campgrounds would be appreciated.

Taos, Chama, El Rito, the Rio Grande Gorge, Chimio, Las Vagas, Montezuma.

Santa fe, lots to do but don't miss the oldest church in the U.S. and go inside to marvel at the stairway! I'll leave the story till you get there, but you won't be dissappointed. Take Bishops lodge Road NE (590) to Tesuque. Beautiful ride, as is Hyde Park Rd. (the road up to the Ski Basin).

Rio Grande Gorge, the Poney express used to go through there. There are a couple of old P.E. Stops, stations there as well as a beautiful ride..good camping too with hot springs.

Las Vegas home of The roughriders & Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy had the entire top floor of the L.V. Hotel as his living quarters. Lots of history.

10-15 miles south of Las vegas, there is Hermits Peak which looks like the face of an Indian laying on his back. Look to the right, and you will see starvation Peak, where the indians drove all the people of a large wagon train to the top of the mesa, and camped out at the bottom until they starved.

Montezuma is just north of Las Vegas, and there is an old resort hotel there built in the early 1800's with Mexican labor. Royality used to come from europe to summer there. There are natural hot springs there also, which are open to the public. You could camp at Story lake (near Las Vegas), or at Montezuma lake.

El Rito is on a road which leads into the National Forrest. Camping up there too, and you can go from there clear to Taos via forrest roads. You will see bear, elk, dear, mountian lions, ect. There is a cave in a cliff up there where you can camp and watch the springfed pond in the morning and see all the creatures coming down to water in the morning, but I can't tell you how to get there...would have to show you.

Lots and lots of history in N. New Mexico...take time to learn some before your trip!

ken

If you are in to primitive camping, there are beautiful Federal campsites all over that area. They usually have potable water and a modern pit toilet, but that's about it...oh and a place to pitch your tent.

Lawrence - You can get a pretty good "vacation guide" from newmexico.org.

Taos

Rode through there a couple years back, VERY nice ritzy kind a place and artsy too. Ate at McDonalds, all I could afford there, but impressed with the town. Funn'in some here, but expect more $$$ spent in a place like Taos. Worth the ride. Very quaint, well kept smaller town/city. Randy

Polarbear said:

Rode through there a couple years back, VERY nice ritzy kind a place and artsy too. Ate at McDonalds, all I could afford there, but impressed with the town. Funn'in some here, but expect more $$$ spent in a place like Taos. Worth the ride. Very quaint, well kept smaller town/city. Randy

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My impression after spending an afternoon there on a trip last year is pretty much the same - Taos reminds me of a town/city near where I live called Canmore and in fact as my buddy and i toured around i remember saying over the radio that Taos is like Canmore made from adobe. There are lot of very nicely built and designed adobe homes and buildings which made for a very nice afternoon. Much cooler than the areas around like Santa Fe due to elevation - very quaint and artsy as you say. I had a very nice Americano on a porch downtown which i could afford.