• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Drive Hwy 76, known as the High Road, first. The small towns along the more famous route are filled with crumbling adobes, rusting pick-ups, graying snow in winter and sun-baked clay in summer. They often look half-abandoned, but look closely and you’ll find they’re rich in weaving and other Native American handicraft workshops-cum-offices. The road, which winds through river valleys, skirts high, cartoon-like sandstone cliffs and passes numerous wood-carving and weaving studios-cum-shops.

The first, and our favorite, stop is Chimayó. Originally established by Spanish families in possession of a land grant, it is home to a fabulous old adobe church and an equally fabulous New Mexican restaurant. Whatever you do, don’t miss the famous Santuario de Chimayó, built in 1816. Legend has it the church’s dirt has healing powers. The back room serves as a shrine to its miracles – canes, wheelchairs, crutches and other abandoned medical aids all hang like trophies from the thick adobe walls. Kneel into a hole in the ground and smear some dirt on your ailing body. Pay a visit to Centinela Traditional Arts for naturally dyed hand-loomed blankets, vests and pillows. Irvin Trujillo, a seventh-generation Rio Grande weaver whose carpets are featured in collections across the country, runs and works out of the 20 artist cooperative. Rancho de Chimayó serves classic New Mexican cuisine courtesy of the Jaramillo family’s famed recipes and is where you should eat dinner. The atmosphere is as fantastic as the fresh lime margaritas. Spend the night at unpretentious Casa Escondida, with beautiful rooms and a hot tub made for stargazing.

The next morning follow Hwy 76 to the east as it climbs high into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. After about 3 miles of sharp ascent look for the sign pointing right and down to Quemado Valley and Córdova. The small village is best known for its unpainted, austere santos (saint) carvings created by masters such as George López and José Delores López. Stop and check out their work at Sabinita López Ortiz shop. The shop also sells intricate wood-carvings made by the proprietor, Sabinita, a member of the same artistic family.

From Cordova, Hwy 76 continues to wind up the mountains, ascending higher and higher until reaching tiny and dramatic Truchas (meaning trout in English). The town showcases rural New Mexico at its most sincere. The ramshackle town was originally settled by the Spaniards in the 18th century, and feels as if it never left that era. The setting for Robert Redford’s Milagro Beanfield War is a mishmash of narrow roads, most unpaved, leading to yards of red dirt and crumbling adobe homes. Despite the obvious poverty, Truchas is a determined little place, with some quality galleries and workshops well worth supporting. The town is best known for its woven textiles, and Cordova’s Handweaving Workshop is a good place to buy them. Run by a friendly fourth-generation weaver named Harry, here you can watch him at work between browsing his beautiful blankets, place mats and rugs. Continue on to Las Trampas next and look for the 1760 Church of San José de Gracia. Although raided countless times by Apache warriors, it was never destroyed. Original paintings and carvings remain in excellent condition, and self-flagellation blood stains from the Los Hermanos Penitentes (a 19th-century secretive religious order with a strong following in the northern mountains of New Mexico) are still visible. Peñasco is the next community along the route. By now you’ll likely be hungry, so stop for lunch at the Sugar Nymphs Bistro. The family-run restaurant is the social hang-out for this tiny community, and serves everything from fresh-pressed cider to piñon couscous.

In Peñasco, hop on Hwy 518, which winds north along the western edge of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and national forest land to Taos. Attracting suitors for centuries now with her kiss of canyons and art, Taos is a great lover, stunningly beautiful and bursting with outdoor adventures.