Stops on the way from Santa Fe to Boulder?
 

I will be driving from Santa Fe to the Denver/Boulder area, and wanted some tips on neat places to stop along the way (architecture, nature, history). Is Great Sand Dunes Park worth stopping at?

Start by taking the 'high' road north from Santa Fe to Taos - stopping at some of the galleries and the La Chirpada winery. From Taos head north to the Great Sand Dunes - yes it's worth stopping for if you're prepared for variable conditions. We have been several times, and when it's not 95degrees and windy it can be loads of fun. We've even liked being there when the weather is extreme because we are sort of geology hounds anyway. Take a towel, a picnic lunch, and a roll-up plastic sled. Visit the aligator farm if you have time!

La Veta is a cute town on the way east from the Sand Dunes toward I-25. It has a little western museum, and an old fashioned drug store with an ice cream fountain. It also has an amazingly nice golf course, and a little restaurant/cooking school that I've heard is nice if its still open.

Of course, in Colorado Springs you can get a super dose of geology with a visit to Garden of the Gods. The visitor center there serves a nice lunch.

From Colorado Springs take I-25 north to the Monument/Palmer Lake exit and take highway 105 west to Palmer Lake. There are a couple nice restaurants on the main drag through town. Once you are near the town's north end, take Spruce Mountain Road and enjoy a terrific country drive to Denver. There is tons of interesting geology along this road.

Get the Colorado Roadside Geology Guide before you take this trip for lots of interesting facts about the geology on this trip.

Nearer to Santa Fe is Pecos National Monument which I found interesting. And near Los Alamos is Bandalier National Monument. Both have Indian ruins.