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TRIP

13 Big Skies & Weird Science

43 Out of This World

46 On Location in New Mexico

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Day Trips from Santa Fe & Albuquerque

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If Santa Fe and Albuquerque’s urbaneness starts to stifle, escape. Soak in mineral-heavy hot springs sipping lithium-laced water or hike through lunarlike badlands. There are plenty of adventures within an hour’s drive of both cities that help you discover exactly why this state is nicknamed the “Land of Enchantment.”

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CHIMAYÓ

Chimayó, a tiny adobe village sandwiched between cliffs in a sage-scented high-desert locale, is our favorite day trip from Santa Fe. It doesn’t matter how many times you visit, there’s something magical about the 1816 Santuario de Chimayó that keeps drawing you back. Legend has it that the dirt from the church has healing powers, and the back room is a shrine to its miracles, with canes, wheelchairs, crutches and other medical aids hanging from the wall. Kneel by the earthen pit, set up almost like an altar, and smear some of the healing dirt inside on your ailing body. Also stop by the Centinela Traditional Arts to admire (and perhaps purchase) the hand-loomed weaving of Irvin Trujillo and 20 local weavers. Trujillo is a seventh-generation weaver whose carpets are in collections at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The Rancho de Chimayó is where to break bread. The fabulous restaurant serves classic New Mexican cuisine, courtesy of the Jaramillo family’s famed recipes, along with perfect margaritas. But it’s the high-desert location and old-school ambience that makes it most appealing. From Santa Fe take US 285/84 north to Española, then Hwy 64 (the High Rd to Taos) north to Chimayó.

See also TRIPS 44, 47 & 49

OJO CALIENTE

Billed as America’s oldest health resort, Ojo Caliente is our favorite high-desert escape. Set against a crumbly orange sandstone and baby-blue New Mexican sky backdrop, Ojo, which means ‘hot eye’ in Spanish, is a charmingly shabby-chic family-owned resort offering five wonderful hot mineral springs. The on-site Artesian Restaurant prepares organic and local ingredients three meals a day with aplomb. The springs are considered sacred by Pueblo Indians. In an unusual trick of hydrogeology, each of the beautiful pools is fed by a different water source with different mineral contents. We love the indoor soda spring, and floating in its heavy tepid waters is as relaxing as life gets. The enclosed pool is full of steam and perfect for floating in the mist. It’s meant to help relieve digestion problems. Also check out the cliffside iron spring pool, known for its blood -leansing and immunity-boosting waters. Hit the sauna and steam room after soaking, then indulge in a spa treatment. On your way out fill up a water bottle from the lithium spring fountain – it’s meant to cure depression. Ojo Caliente is located 40 miles north of Santa Fe on Hwy 285.

See also TRIPS 43, 47, 51 & 53

KASHA-KATUWE TENT ROCKS NATIONAL MONUMENT

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is a beloved weekend hiking spot for Santa Fe and Albuquerque residents and their canine companions. Conveniently located just off I-25 between the two cities, hitting the trail at Tent Rocks is a bizarre and beautiful experience taking you over smooth rock mounds and through narrow slot canyons. New Mexicans often refer to the rocks as “the Hoodoos,” due to their strange light-orange, sometimes tiger striped, cone-like shape. The strange formations are the result of volcanoes in the nearby Jemez Mountains. When the ash from the spewing lava pit spread and cooled it was sculpted into the teepee-like formations and steep-sided, narrow canyons you see today. Visitors can hike up a dry riverbed through the piñon-covered desert to the formations, where sandy paths weave through the rocks and canyons. Bring lots of water – it can get hot up here. The trail ends at the edge of a sandstone cliff, looking into one of the long