We plan to spend two weeks in AZ and NM this fall. Our interests are nice scenery, hiking/walking and just exploring new areas. We have not been in this area before except for the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Cities and museums aren't high on our list, with the possible exception of the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. DH may also enjoy an American Indian museum, as he loved the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

I know this is a LOT of driving (I've included approx mileage between stops, also days of the week as I think that could make a difference in same towns) but would appreciate any ideas for tweaking that you may have.

Tues Fly into Phoenix. Stay in Globe just to put us closer to White Mt and out of
city.

Wed/Thurs Stay in White Mt. Hike/acclimate to altitude. Possibly in Greer.

Fri/Sat/Sun Drive 300 miles to Los Alomos area on Fri. Possible places to visit during the weekend include Tent Rocks/Bandelier/Jemez Springs/pueblos/Santa Fe (?)

Mon/Tues/Wed Stay in Taos and explore area. Possibly stay at Casa Europea

Thurs ???? Need an idea of place to stop on way to Canyon de Chelly.
Either drive south, spend some time in Santa Fe and drive a little further on
25 or 40 just as a place to stay or drive north on 64 and stop along that
route. Is it more forested/mountainous along 64?

Fri/Sat Stay in Chinle (approx 250 miles from Santa Fe) Explore/hike at Canyon
de Chelly

Sun/Mon/Tues Stay in general area of Sedona. (125 miles) Visit friends/hike at various spots

Wed Stay near Phoenix airport for return flight on Thursday morning.

Will this give us a general overview of the area? Are we trying to do too much? Should we eliminate Canyon de Chelly and spend more time in other places? If we do include Cayon de Chelly, would especially appreciate suggestions of a route from Taos to Chinle and anything special/unique to see along the way.

I would probably skip Canyon de Chelly simply because it will cost you about a day. Make sure to visit Taos Pueblo & Jerome (in AZ).

I would be sure to include Canyon de Chelley and do take a tour with a guide of your own, maybe take one day from Taos. Do visit Taos Pueblo, however.

If you do the I 40 route to Canyon de Chelley, you could visit Acoma Pueblo or elMorro/Inscription Rock both a bit south of 40 between Albuquerque ad Gallup.

Looks pretty good to me ...

DH may also enjoy an American Indian museum

Two I'd recommend are the Heard Museum in central Phoenix (not far from the airport) and the Museum of Northern Arizona near Flagstaff (a bit out of the way but you could do it on the transfer day from Chinle to Sedona with a few miles detour thru Flagstaff). If I had to pick one I'd pick the Heard, but it seems like you don't like big cities so maybe the MNA is better for you.

http://www.heard.org/
http://www.musnaz.org/

Another vote for visiting Canyon de Chelley.

One possibility for Thursday night is to drive to Santa Fe and then take the Turquoise Trail to Albuquerque and stay in Albuquerque for Thursday night. It would still be quite a bit of driving the next day, but better than driving from Taos.

Drop Chelly and drive from Taos to Durango via Chaco canyon.Paul

Thanks everyone for giving me some feedback, however, I'm still not sure what to do about Canyon de Chelly. Since we're not so much into shopping, I guess we won't be short changing Taos or Sedona if we take the time to go to Chelly. Considering our other stops, is the canyon significantly different from the other places?

Please don't take this lightly, but I am TOTALLY paranoid about spiders. On an earlier post I mentioned reading about tarantulas coming out in the fall to look for a mate. Also just saw something about it on the Bandelier site. Of course, I guess it's not likely to find them in downtown Santa Fe, but has anyone come across them on trails or on roads as was mentioned in the last article I read? I'm a country girl, but small spiders freak me, so can only imagine my reaction to a live tarantula.

I remember that post, Clousie - don't know where the writer found his or her information, but I live here and I have *never* seen a mass tarantula migration. In fact, I don't remember the last time I saw a tarantula.

Lee Ann

Lee Ann, I do remember that you said that about tarantulas, which reassured me at the time after I read about them in one of the travel books. (Fodors?) Then just recently, as I was doing more research, I found this note on the Bandelier site for October, and they were also mentioned for September. Guess I'll just have to have my husband lead on any hikes we do.

http://www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/october.htm

I do love the idea of Chaco Canyon in lieu of Canon de Chelly, but, Chaco is awfully remote as well.

Have you been to Mesa Verde? I am sure some people will disagree with me - just my opinion - but very similar feel at Canyon de Chelly as at Mesa Verde.

Don't miss TENT ROCKS or BANDELIER. Tent Rocks - awesome landscape and great hike and Bandelier - fantastic ancient puebloan structures & great hike to Rio Grande. Tent Rocks is a better 'day trip' from Santa Fe than from Taos. FYI, I've been to Bandelier three times in October (three different years) and have never seen the spiders you describe. (Thank goodness!)

You mentioned Los Alamos, but just want to put my 2 cents in for the Bradbury Science Museum there -- worth stopping. (www.lanl.gov)

RE: a Native American museum -- Museum Hill in Santa Fe is a well-sited, well-designed spot that includes 4 museums, a beautiful plaza w/interesting sculpture & cafe (and free wifi). www.museumhill.org. Highly recommend the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian there as well as the other museums -- Folk Art is worth a stop if it interests you.

If you end up with an extra hour or two near Albuquerque as you head west, check out Petroglyph National Monument (www.nps.gove/petr) for an experience different than the other locations already mentioned. Petroglyphs on black basalt boulders. Brief hikes, different scenery. Right off Highway 40.

What are you planning for Taos?

Enjoy!