Santa Fe, NM

I'm heading to Santa Fe, NM over the Thanksgiving break and was wondering if anyone knew of any good day hikes out there. Any help would be appreciated.

I used to date a girl in Santa Fe (perhaps you can chunk an egg at her house for me while you're there ). Great town! Carson National Forest near Taos is pretty sweet, but I can't remember exactly where we hiked. It's about an hour away from Santa Fe if I remember correctly.

I came across this link also. Looks like mostly dayhikes though. Click here.

Have a great trip! Hope you like Mexican food. It's darn good there.

Bandelier National Monument is nice. http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm

Doug

I second the vote for Bandelier because you also get a great history lesson thrown in. If you get there be sure to climb up the ladders into the cermeonial cave. You can continue on a longer hike up the Frijoles Canyon to the painted (not sure if that's the correct name) cave or reverse direction and got down to the river. In addtions,there are trails that will take you up the canyon walls t othe camping area on the rim.

On the way to Bandelier is Tsankawi. A great place to wander and get to explore old sites on your own. No admission fee, just a little pull off to park at. Bathrooms are available further in off the road. You are asked to respect the aritifacts and leave them in place. But you get to explore old sites as they would have been found by early archaeologists. Fantastic views and what fun to walk the same beautifully worn stone steps that poeple did hundreds of years ago. These "steps"are narrown smoothly worn depressions formed by a thousand footsteps taking the same route up and along the cliffs.

I've stayed in Santa Fe three times and the very best authentic Mexican food I've had there is from Bumble Bees. It's this little place with a drive up window, amazing self serve huge bowls of toppings, cheap prices, huge servings,grilled beef fajitas to die for. Filled with locals. I could have eaten there every night and just thinking about it is making me drool.

We did all the touristy famous eating spots and Bumble Bees puts them all to shame. The gentleman selling carnitas from a cart on the plaza serves up a good quick bite. Nto Bumblebees, but much better than most of the restaurant stuff.

Three Rivers is a great place to explore. That's north of Taos. And you can stop and walk over the Rio Grande River Gorge and get a little vertigo.

Jemez Moutains, nothwest of Albuquerque. The caldera is quite impressive. But I didn't have time to get out and hike there.

Chaco is fantastic and well worth the effort to get into the site. Last summer, my sister and I took three teenage boys and they were quite impressed. Take rolls and rolls of fillm if you go to Chaco. You will shoot pictures that will blow your friends away with the artistry that can be had by shooting s sequence of openings in the ruins. You're pretty much free to roam anywhere you want at Chaco so it's my kind of place. Take the trail u to the canyon's edge for a terrific view down on the ruins of Pueblo Bonito.

OK, I've got to admit, if you haven't already guessed, that New Mexico is high on my vacation list. And to think the first time it took a bit of convincing on my sister's part to get me to go.

BorealChickadee said:

Chaco is fantastic and well worth the effort to get into the site. Last summer, my sister and I took three teenage boys and they were quite impressed. Take rolls and rolls of fillm if you go to Chaco. You will shoot pictures that will blow your friends away with the artistry that can be had by shooting s sequence of openings in the ruins. You're pretty much free to roam anywhere you want at Chaco so it's my kind of place. Take the trail u to the canyon's edge for a terrific view down on the ruins of Pueblo Bonito.

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Never made it to Chaco myself, but I was warned not to try if there is any moisture on the roads. (It was dirzzling outside...) Evidently they become impassible very quickly.

I hear it is very nice though...

Doug

The road into Chaco is hyped up but it's not as bad as they say. The first time we made sure we rented a 4 WD- didn't need it. The last time we took in a hmmm....one of those dipsy doodle half minivans half something that we rented. You travel on dirt, but it's well graded, just has those bumpity bumps that make you drive slower. Anyway, you don't want to drive too fast or you'll hit the free ranging cattle that wander onto the road. I've driven on lots of worse roads in the Adirondacks. Think Baxter's tote road, but much much wider, and usually in better shape. Last time we came out in a beautiful thunder and lighting storm and we weren't worried (we did make sure we were back to the car before it started-you're pretty vulnerable in those wide open spaces) on the drive out.

In winter I would call ahead to check on snow conditions.

There is camping at Chaco. Water, firepits, toilets. Simple but beautiful.

Thanks a lot for your help. These are great ideas and links. I'm getting psyched to go. Thanks again!

BorealChickadee said:

The road into Chaco is hyped up but it's not as bad as they say. The first time we made sure we rented a 4 WD- didn't need it.

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There are certain rock layers in that general area that are infamous for changing from innocuous to very slipperly (greased mud?) when wet. I presume that the road passes over one of these layers. My advice was from a local--I suggest that anyone going in also check with a local. I doubt that a tow would be cheap...

Doug

Bandolier is a fantastic place and the ride to it is awesome. Well worth the trip. It also strikes me as very different from typical New Mexico. Its not all dry desert up there.

I've been to Chaco and its another great place. Really neat ruins to explore. But the road is tough. I camped there and woke up to two inches of snow everywhere which translated into about 20 miles of mud road to drive back out. I had a two wheel drive pickup truck and was ok but I near pushed some guy in a van most of the way out until we had his girlfriend drive and then she went along fine. It is a tricky road. But it is a phenomal place to explore. This info is 20 years old though so things may have changed but the park website doesn't make me think they have. You can probably find some kind of video on Chaco explaining its history before you went and have a better understanding once you are there. I've seen specials about it on tv before.

I'm sure you could download information on both parks from the links listed in other posts above.

I easily drove to Chaco in a Corolla. As BC said, don't drive too fast.... no.... try it and find out why. We got road conditions before heading in there. From the park service radio station? Or from rangers at Bandelier.

I'll also second Bandelier. Nice hiking from the campground.

Bandelier is very interesting. Chaco is magical.

Pete_Hickey said:

Chaco is magical.

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Absolutely perfect description.

If you have the time, the 1-1/2 hour drive North to Taos Valley is well worth it. There are several 12-13K peaks that are not tough hikes (trails start at 9-10k), though the oxygen levels are quite lower than what we are used to in the NE (like climbing Lafayette with your mouth duct taped shut and only able to breathe out of your nose).

I would expect conditions down there now to be very similar to what we are currently experiencing in the Whites.

BTW, watch out for those Pueblos. I accidentally backed our rental van into one and caused $800 damage to the bumper! The pueblo came out unscathed...

As others have already mentioned Bandelier is a really intersting place the climate there is a mild though they do get some snow.
One theing about hiking the 12 and 13 k peaks is that they are avalanche prone though the long route to Wheeler peak is fairly safe it is mostly on a open exposed ridge for a long ways I think it is a 10 mile round trip .
The Hike up Wheeler peak from Williams lake is not recomened in the winter as it follows a avalanche path. that is kept clear by avalanches hows that for easy trail work
There isa very nice Snow Shoe up Santa Fe Baldy if you park at the Santa Fe Ski Basin area there isa lot set aside for hikers and take tWinsor trail
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/recreation/districts/espanola/trails/254_winsor2.html

Santa Fe Baldy has some great views

If you were to go in the Summer i would Recomend the Truchas Peaks lightly used and very bueatiful .

You might find this URL helpful
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/carson/

also this book The Hikers guide to the Enchanted Circle
By Kathy Kalen
inquire at the USFS office in Taos if you plan on climbing in the area near Wheeler peak they can tell you about Avalanche Danger.
A nice mt Is Lobo peak just over 12 k with great views the Manzanita Canyon trail is my Favorite way up it but that can avalanche sometimes But people do snow shoe it
have fun that is really Amazing area very sublime in many ways

In Albequerque, about 45 min south of Santa Fe, there is a mountain range called the 'Sandias' that forms the eastern wall of the city. They are quite big by eastern standards, similar in elevation gain to the N. presidentials. I haven't hiked them but did take the tram that is there which is supposedly one of the longest in the world. Very cool. Anyway, just another mountain type thing to do in the area. Have fun.

Artex said:

I used to date a girl in Santa Fe (perhaps you can chunk an egg at her house for me while you're there ). Great town! Carson National Forest near Taos is pretty sweet, but I can't remember exactly where we hiked. It's about an hour away from Santa Fe if I remember correctly.

I came across this link also. Looks like mostly dayhikes though. Click here.

Have a great trip! Hope you like Mexican food. It's darn good there.

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What, no thumbs up?

Just came back from a week in northern New Mexico and had a fantastic time. Not a lot of time for hiking, but I did climb a smallish (8,300 ft) peak (Devisadero) outside of Taos. You start at 7,000 ft so the climb is easy, but the views were great.

I second (third?) the comments above about Bandelier and Chaco Canyon. I found it amazing that in this era of liability lawsuits the National Park Service still allows you to climb four near vertical ladders to inspect what's called the Ceremonial Cave at Bandelier.

The road to Chaco wasn't bad at all - I was going betweem 20 and 30 mph. Conditions were extremely dry, though. You could tell that with any dampness on the road it would have been really slick and treacherous.

Chaco is indeed a magical place. It's so isolated that the people who go there really have to want to go there, which is good. I certainly support rejection of the idea that floats around from time to time to pave the road. Part of the allure of the place is that it's far from civilization and very very quiet, except for the wind.

In addition to the above, we really enjoyed visiting pueblos, buying pottery, and eating. I added yak chile, elk, and buffalo to my life list.

The one mountain I climbed while out there a few years ago was Hermit's Peak. It made a good day hike. Nice views from the top. Tops out at about 10K feet.

The lightning storm coming in over the summit was really exciting too!

I've spent a great deal of time out there. here are your options in terms of how far from santa Fe you have to drive:

1 - you drive up the ski mountain road and hike in the park there whatever it's called. tis nice and only 15 minutes from downtonw

2 - take the high road to taos and hike Truchas, easily the most beautiful area IMO. there's a short hike into a watefall on an indian reservation (when open) about 1/4 of the way to Truchas. best SW food anywhere is on the way to Truchas near the shrine at crossroads called Chimayo (site of the famous healing dirt). not the gift shop at sanctuary but a fine restaraunt nearby real famous forget the name.

3 - all the way to Taos and hike Kachina peak. good eateries there too

4 - but i like S. Fe the best. and by far the best local bar and eatery is El Farol up Canyon Road a sublime urban hike in the eve or nite air. killer tapas and kick ass maragitas on tap at El Farol.

Enjoy!

Thanks to all for your postings.

My wife and I are headed to the Sante Fe area this summer.
Appreciate all the information.

-- LTH