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EAT & SLEEP

Madrid Lodging

Colorful two-room suites, wi-fi and an outdoor hot tub make this well-tended place the pick of the town. 505-471-3450; www.madridlodging.com; 14 Opera House Rd, Madrid; r $110-130

Mama Lisa’s Ghost Town Kitchen

Whatever you do, don’t miss the red chile chocolate cake, the specialty at this traditional New Mexican café. The menu rotates, but everything is cooked fresh. 505-471-5769; Rte 14, Madrid; mains from $5; call for hr

Mine Shaft Tavern

Around for more than 60 years, this bar is the local choice for cold beer, pub grub and good music. 505-473-0743; 2846 NM Hwy 14, Madrid; mains $5-15; noon-12pm

Ten Thousand Waves Japanese Resort & Spa

Stay in one of the 13 gorgeous, zen-inspired guesthouses and indulge in massages, facials and soak time in one of the private mountainside hot tubs. 505-982-9304; www.tenthousandwaves.com; 3451 Hyde Park Rd, Santa Fe; r $99-279

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.byways.org/explore/byways/2094/

www.turqouisetrail.org

LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner

TRIP

37 48 Hours in Santa Fe

38 Albuquirky

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Return to beginning of chapter

Rafting & Fishing the Rio Grande

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WHY GO Whether it’s casting for trout in early fall or rushing rapids in late spring, playing on the Rio Grande near Taos is a heavenly treat. Rife with fly-fishing spots and wild white water, this stretch of river flows through New Mexico’s most magical, sage-scented, crimson canyon scenery.

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TIME

4 days

DISTANCE

40 miles

BEST TIME TO GO

Apr – Sep

START

Pilar, NM

END

Questa, NM

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It takes only a few moments watching the blue ribbon dancing past crimson cliffs and through craggy mocha canyons to fall in love with the Rio Grande around Taos. Rafting and fly-fishing are the two top ways to enjoy the river, so we’ve combined both into one action-packed trip. Begin in New Mexico’s rafting capital, tiny Pilar. Warm up riding the Racecourse, a 5-mile stretch of white water just south of town. You can join one of the half-day trips run by Los Rios River Runners. The biggest of the Racecourse’s nine named rapids is “Big Rock.” When the river is running fast (early in the season) it’s a Class IV. Adrenalin junkies should drive a solo inflatable kayak down the Racecourse.

After drying off, follow Hwy 68 north for 16 miles to beautiful and artsy Taos. You’ll be starving, and probably craving a beer, so go straight to Eske’s Brew Pub, which serves roasted green chile infused beer. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but if you’re adventurous enough to be on this trip in the first place you can handle a 12oz glass of this spicy beer. Wash the green chile aftertaste away with more green chile – order a burrito smothered in hearty green-chile stew! Your hotel is 10 miles from Taos, just west of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the USA’s third-highest suspension bridge, which is featured in Easy Rider and Natural Born Killers. The environmentally savvy Greater World Earthship Development, your home for two nights, is just past the 650ft-high bridge. A cross between organic Gaudi architecture and space-age fantasy, the sustainable dwellings are made from recycled tires, aluminum cans and sand, with rain catching and gray-water systems to minimize their carbon footprints. Buried on three sides by sod, and with strange solar paneling sticking off their roofs, the dwellings resemble hastily camouflaged alien spaceships from afar; inside they are chic and up to date, exactly as one would expect an extraterrestrial home to look.

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DETOUR

Fly-fishing enthusiasts won’t want to miss a visit to Vermejo Park Ranch (www.vermejoparkranch.com) on Hwy 555 about 40 miles west of Raton. Maintained by Ted Turner as a premier fishing and hunting lodge, this beautifully situated 920-sq-mile enterprise offers fly-fishing clinics from June through August. Rates include all meals and activities and cost around $350 per person.

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Your second day is devoted