27 Best Sights in Day Trips from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Seven centuries before the Declaration of Independence was signed, compact city-states existed in the Southwest. This 33,677-acre wilderness is home to a fascinating collection of preserved petroglyphs and cave dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people, relatives of today's Rio Grande Pueblo Indians, who thrived on wild game, corn, and beans. Suddenly, for reasons still undetermined, the settlements were abandoned.

Remnants of one of the most impressive examples of these dwellings can be seen at Frijoles Canyon. At the canyon's base, near a gurgling stream, the remains of cave dwellings, ancient ceremonial kivas, and other stone structures stretch out for more than a mile beneath the sheer walls of the canyon's tree-fringed rim. Along a paved, self-guided trail, steep wooden ladders and narrow doorways lead to a series of cave dwellings, one that contains a kiva large and tall enough to stand in. Named after author and ethnologist Adolph Bandelier (his novel The Delight Makers is set in Frijoles Canyon), it also contains backcountry wilderness, waterfalls, and wildlife. Some 70 miles of trails traverse the park; the short Pueblo Loop Trail is an easy, self-guided walk. Pick up the $2 trail guide at the visitor center to read about the numbered sites along this trek. A small museum in the visitor center interprets the area's prehistoric and contemporary Native American cultures, with displays of artifacts dating back to the 13th century.

Note that from mid-June to mid-October, visitors arriving by car between 9 am and 3 pm must park at the White Rock Visitor Center 10 miles east on NM 4 and take a free shuttle bus into the park. This sleek, eco-friendly visitor center also serves as a terrific resource for learning about local attractions. The modern, comfortable Hampton Inn & Suites Los Alamos is next door.

One section of the park, an Ancestral Puebloan ruin called Tsankawi (pronounced sank-ah-wee) lies 12 miles from the main section, on NM 4 just south of NM 502 (because it is part of Bandelier, you must pay the park admission to enter it). On the 1½-mile loop trail, you can see petroglyphs and south-facing cave dwellings, and there's a large, unexcavated pueblo ruin on top of the mesa.

In the lush and densely wooded town of Chama, nestled at the base of 10,000-foot Cumbre Pass, the railroad has played a vital role since the 1880s, when workers piled into town to construct the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. You can get a sense of this history strolling along the town's main drag, Terrace Avenue, which has a handful of cute shops, cafés, and B&Bs, and by taking a ride on the historic Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, the nation's longest (and highest) narrow-gauge train excursion. Passengers are transported by handsomely restored, 1920s coal-driven steam engines and 19th-century parlor cars, passing over 10,200-foot Cumbres Pass and through the rugged San Juan Mountains. You chug over ancient trestles, around breathtaking bends, and high above the Los Pinos River—if the terrain looks at all familiar, you may have seen this railroad's "performance" in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Midway through the trip you break for lunch and can switch to a waiting Colorado-based train to complete the 64 miles to Antonito, Colorado (from which you'll be shuttled back by bus), or return from this point on the same train. Themed dinner and sunset rides as well as kids'-oriented "Cinder Bear Express" excursions are offered throughout the season.

This small, frontier, adobe church has a fantastically carved and painted reredos (altar screen) and is built on the site where, believers say, a mysterious light came from the ground on Good Friday in 1810 leading to the discovery of a large wooden crucifix beneath the earth. The chapel sits above a sacred pozito (a small hole), the dirt from which is believed to have miraculous healing properties. Dozens of abandoned crutches and braces placed in the anteroom—along with many notes, letters, and photos—testify to this. The Santuario draws a steady stream of worshippers year-round—Chimayó is considered the Lourdes of the Southwest. During Holy Week as many as 30,000 pilgrims come here. The shrine is is surrounded by small adobe shops selling every kind of religious curio imaginable and some very fine traditional Hispanic work from local artists. A smaller chapel, Santo Niño de Atocha, was built in 1857 and lies 200 yards away. As at the more famous Santuario, the dirt in this place of worship is said to have healing properties.

The ruins of New Mexico's largest American frontier-era fort sit on an empty windswept plain about a half-hour drive north of Las Vegas. It still echoes with the isolation surely felt by the soldiers stationed here between 1851 and 1890, when the fort was established to protect travelers and settlers along the Santa Fe Trail. It eventually became a military supply depot for the Southwest, but was eventually abandoned. The visitor center provides historical background about the fort and you can walk among the extensive ruins on your own or explore different parts of the grounds on a ranger tour (they're given throughout the year, but more often in the busier spring and fall seasons).

In 1945 Georgia O'Keeffe bought a large, dilapidated late-18th-century Spanish-colonial adobe compound just off the plaza in Abiquiú. Upon the 1946 death of her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, she left New York City and began dividing her time permanently between this home, which figured prominently in many of her works, and one in nearby Ghost Ranch. The patio is featured in Black Patio Door (1955) and Patio with Cloud (1956). O'Keeffe died in 1986 at the age of 98 and left provisions in her will to ensure that the property's houses would never be public monuments.

Highly engaging 75- to 90-minute tours are available by advance reservation through Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, which owns the house and operates the tours from early March through late November. Costs range from $60 for a standard tour to $200 for "Pita's Tour," which is led by Pita Lopez, who served as O'Keeffe's former secretary and companion and shares fascinating first-hand anecdotes about the artist. All of the tours focus on O’Keeffe’s distinctly modern decorating style, which drew on Indigenous and Spanish influences. Tours depart by shuttle bus from the welcome center beside the Abiquiu Inn. Book well ahead in summer, as these tours fill up quickly.

Open to the public year-round, this sprawling, stunningly situated ranch is busiest in summer, when the majority of workshops take place, and when visitors drive up after having toured the O'Keeffe home in nearby Abiquiú. Now a retreat center, the ranch also offers a wealth of interesting activities for day visitors, including a few different guided Georgia O'Keeffe tours across the landscape she painted during the five decades she summered here (the house she lived in is not part of the tour and is closed to the public). Other guided (and self-guided) hikes amid the property's dramatic rock formations touch on archaeology and paleontology, history, and the several movies that have been filmed here (Cowboys and Aliens, City Slickers, Wyatt Earp, and a few others). Visitors can also tour the Florence Hawley Ellis Museum of Anthropology, which contains Native American tools, pottery, and other artifacts excavated from the Ghost Ranch Gallina digs, and the adjacent Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology. Workshops, which touch on everything from photography and poetry to yoga and wellness, are offered throughout the year—guests can camp or stay in semi-rustic cottages or casitas. If you're not attending a workshop or retreat, Ghost Ranch opens its accommodations to the general public from November through April (there's a two-night minimum stay, but rates are quite reasonable). Other experiences on the property include art exhibits, trail rides, massage treatments, and kayaking and canoeing in nearby Abiquiú. When you arrive, drop by the welcome center, which also houses a trading post stocked with books, art, O'Keeffe ephemera, and a basic coffee station (there's also a dining hall serving cafeteria-style meals throughout the day).

From Chimayó to Peñasco, the High Road is home to a number of mostly low-key but generally high-quality art galleries, many of them run out of the owners' homes. During the final two weekends in September each year, more than 30 artists show their work in the High Road Art Tour; for a studio map, or plenty of useful information on galleries open not just during the tour but year-round, visit the website.

Volcanic tent-shaped hoodoos and narrow slot canyons are the hallmarks of this enchanted landscape accessed from Interstate 25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The national monument was established in 2001 and is managed in cooperation with Cochiti Pueblo, whose residents have called the area Kasha-Katuwe for centuries. The sandstone rock formations here are a visual marvel, resembling stacked tents in a stark, water- and wind-eroded box canyon. Tent Rocks offers superb hiking year-round, although it can get hot in summer, when you should bring extra water. The drive to this magical landscape offers its own delights, as the road from Interstate 25 heads west toward Cochiti Dam and through the cottonwood groves around the pueblo. It's a good hike for kids. Just 2 miles round-trip, hiking Tent Rock takes only about 1½ leisurely hours, but it's the kind of place where you'll want to hang out for a while. Take a camera, but leave your pets at home—no dogs are allowed. There are no facilities here, just a small parking area with a posted trail map and a self-pay admission box; you can get gas and pick up picnic supplies and bottled water (along with some locally made Pueblo items) at Pueblo de Cochiti Convenience Store, a few miles up the road. Note that as of fall 2023, the national monument remained closed to visitors following the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans are under way to reopen the property through a day-use reservation system (to discourage over-crowding); check the website for the latest updates.

Nestled under mature shade trees down a dirt lane near Dixon's quaint village center, this producer of first-rate wines is the oldest vintner in the northern part of the state. La Chiripada's Viognier, Special Reserve Riesling, and Dolcetto have all earned considerable acclaim. Also consider a tasting of the nicely crafted New Mexico Port, which pairs well with dessert. There's a small art gallery, and tastings are also offered a few miles away at Blue Heron Brewery.

Set amid cottonwood trees, fertile fields, and lush gardens that back up to the Rio Grande, this beautifully preserved 148-acre ranch just off the Low Road between Española and Dixon is one of the region's underrated gems. After getting oriented and talking with the knowledgeable staff in the Spanish-colonial visitor center, you can pick up a self-guided tour map or use your phone to scan QR codes for a virtual ranger tour and explore the extensive grounds, which include a stately Territorial-style hacienda, a chapel dating back to the 1700s, a farmyard and barn, and short walking trails through the woodlands. There's also an apple orchard and a pond that attracts all kinds of wildlife, from migrating waterfowl to occasional beavers and otters. It's easy to spend at least a couple of hours here without running out of engaging things to explore.

This angular, contemporary nature center stands out as much for its dramatic design as for the engaging exhibits within. Families appreciate the interactive Children's Discovery Area and the giant scale model of the Pajarito Plateau that kids are encouraged to play on. There's also a high-tech planetarium with astronomy shows or films most weekends, nature trails, wildlife and conservation exhibits, and gardens with local flora and plenty of visiting birdlife.

Members of the Santa Clara Pueblo lead guests on one- to two-hour tours of the dramatic cliffs and ancient volcanic-rock dwellings that were inhabited by the tribe's ancestors from the late 900s to 1580. Start by viewing historic photos and cultural displays in the Exhibit Hall, which occupies a restored 1930s guesthouse that was the only lodging ever built by the famed Fred Harvey Company on Native-owned land. Visiting the dwellings—which include a 140-room kiva—and the cliff top with its eye-popping 360-degree vistas are by guided tour only (these last one to two hours, depending on which one you book). The entrance to the dwellings is about 15 miles northeast of Los Alamos.

Bordering the Rio Chama, U.S. 84 works its way north through monumental red rocks and golden sandstone spires that inspired Georgia O'Keeffe's vivid paintings of creased mountains, stark crosses, bleached animal skulls, and adobe architecture. Just beyond the rugged town of Tierra Amarilla sits Los Ojos, a tiny village that's become a model of successful rural economic development by having tapped into its ancient roots—the raising of Churro sheep (the original breed brought over by the Spanish, prized for its wool) and weaving. Tierra Wools cooperative produces some of the finest original weavings in the Southwest. Designs are based on the old Rio Grande styles, and weavers make rugs and capes of superb craftsmanship entirely by hand, using old-style looms (they're happy to provide visitors with demonstrations). Weaving workshops are offered. You'll also find a smattering of artists' studios nearby, most of them in rustic buildings with corrugated metal roofs.

A high-forest drive brings you to the awe-inspiring Valles (vah-yes) Grande, which at 14 miles in diameter is one of the world's largest calderas. Created from the eruption and collapse of a 14,000-foot peak more than 1¼ million years ago, the flow out the bottom of this famed caldera created the Pajarito Plateau and the ash from the eruption spread as far east as Kansas. You can't imagine the volcanic crater's immensity until you spot what look like specks of dust on the lush meadow floor and realize they're elk. The National Park Service manages this 89,000-acre multiuse tract of land, which became a national preserve in 2000. It's especially popular for its variety of gorgeous hiking trails as well as for wildlife watching, fly-fishing, mountain biking and e-biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horseback riding. From June through September, rangers offer free guided hikes around Cerro la Jara (with a focus on volcanos) and through the Cabin District and History Grove, where you'll learn about the caldera's 11,000-year human history. Stargazing programs and moonlit walks are also offered occasionally, as are fly-fishing clinics. For the foreseeable future, while the park service continues to improve the preserve's infrastructure, there's no fee to enter; check the website for updates. 

Los Alamos National Laboratory's public showcase, the Bradbury provides a balanced and provocative examination of such topics as atomic weapons and nuclear power. You can experiment with lasers; witness research in solar, geothermal, fission, and fusion energy; learn about DNA fingerprinting; and view fascinating exhibits about World War II's Project Y (the Manhattan Project, whose participants developed the atomic bomb).

Established as a state park in 2009, this patch of undulating hills dotted with piñon and juniper contains 5 miles of hiking trails, some of them leading to historic mines, as well as interpretative signs related to the 1,100 years of mining history along the Turquoise Trail. The park itself is just north of the historic village center of Cerrillos, where you'll find a small visitor center ( 37 Main Street) that's typically open weekends or by appointment and contains further exhibits and information on the park.

More than 250 known species—including eagles, sandhill cranes, hawks, and prairie falcons—travel the Central Flyway to this 8,672-acre area of marshes, native grasslands, and forested canyons. Here, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains meet the Great Plains, the 1¾-mile-long Gallinas Nature Trail winds beside sandstone cliffs and ruins, and an 8-mile auto tour loops through the most picturesque habitats of the refuge (four-wheel-drive can be necessary following rain or snow). The visitor center leaves out free maps and bird species guides for visitors at all times.

Across the street from Ashley Pond and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Visitor Center, this engaging museum has indoor and outdoor exhibits about the region's Ancestral Puebloan history dating back to the 14th century, the Boy Scout–influenced prep school for young men from prominent families (including Gore Vidal and William S. Burroughs) that operated here before World War II, the Manhattan Project, and more recent times. A few doors away, the mid-century modern Hans Bethe House depicts home life for the top-level scientists working on the atomic bomb, and next door you can view the exterior of J. Robert Oppenheimer's home (which remains a private residence). Be sure to visit the neighboring Fuller Lodge Art Center (free), a massive log building designed in 1928 by famed New Mexican architect John Gaw Meem as part of the prep school, before it was purchased and converted into the base of operations for the Manhattan Project. Inside there's an art gallery and shop that presents rotating exhibits throughout the year.

In the heart of this community that's a must for anyone interested in the history of the atomic age, this small visitor center can help you learn what to see and do around town. Start with an orientation film on the people and events that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, then pick up a self-guided tour of the town's notable historic sites. It's beside the Los Alamos Visitor Center, which also has free and excellent brochures on local hiking trails as well as both the town's and the surrounding area's attractions.

Designed by renowned Japanese-American architect and wood carver George Nakashima, this remote rock-and-adobe church—with one of the state's most spectacular natural settings—can be visited for daily prayer or silent overnight retreats (if requested in advance by mail or e-mail); there are basic accommodations for up to 16 guests (10 single and 3 double rooms), and there's a two-night minimum, with most visitors staying for several days. A suggested per-night donation of $50 to $125 is requested, depending on the room, and none have electricity. Day visitors can come anytime and stroll the grounds, visit the gift shop, and participate in different prayer services throughout the day, but are asked to respect the silence practiced at the monastery. The road is rutted in places and becomes impassable during rainy weather—you can definitely get stuck here for a day, or even a few days, during particularly wet periods, such as summer monsoon season. Check weather forecasts carefully if you're only intending to visit for the day.

There's a shady picnic area and a large fishing lake that's open April through October at this scenic and popular hiking area along the High Road, just east of Pojoaque. It's $15 per carload for a day pass, and an additional $3 to go fishing on the lake; additionally, kayaks are available to rent from $30 per hour. The waterfalls are about a 15-minute hike from the parking and picnic area along a rocky, clearly marked path. The water pours over a rock precipice—a loud and dramatic sight given the river's modest size.

Part of the rambling 1890s complex that houses the beloved Mine Shaft Tavern, this fascinating trove of local history recounts Madrid's legacy as a booming mining town and then a ghost town. Memorabilia from the mine operations, old photos, and the historic Engine 769 make this a fun diversion, especially with kids.

The centerpiece of this national park is the ruins of Pecos, once a major Pueblo village with more than 1,100 rooms. About 2,500 people are thought to have lived in this structure, as high as five stories in places. Pecos, in a fertile valley between the Great Plains and the Rio Grande Valley, was a trading center centuries before the Spanish conquistadors visited in about 1540. The Spanish later returned to build two missions. The pueblo was abandoned in 1838, and its 17 surviving occupants moved to the Jémez Pueblo. Anglo travelers on the Santa Fe Trail observed the mission ruins with a great sense of fascination. You can view the mission ruins and the excavated pueblo on a 1¼-mile self-guided tour, a Civil War battlefield on a 2½-mile trail, and the small but outstanding visitor center museum containing photos, pottery, and artifacts from the pueblo. A half-mile south of the visitor center, the recently restored Kozlowski Trading Post is part of the park and contains exhibits on the Santa Fe Trail and other aspects of the park's rich history.

Situated just off U.S. 285/84 at Pojoaque Pueblo, this impressive complex of traditional adobe buildings, including the three-story Sun Tower, makes an engaging first stop as you begin a drive north of Santa Fe toward Taos. The facility comprises a museum, a cultural center, and artists' studios, all with the mission of preserving the arts and culture of Pueblo communities. The museum holds some 10,000 photographs, including many by esteemed early-20th-century photographer Edward S. Curtis, as well as more than 600 works of both traditional and contemporary pottery, jewelry, textiles, and sculpture. There's also a lovely gift shop of locally made Native American arts and crafts.

For awesome views of Albuquerque and half of New Mexico, take NM 536 up the back side of the Sandia Mountains through Cibola National Forest to Sandia Crest. At the 10,378-foot summit, explore the dramatic but relatively level and easy trails along the rim. Always bring an extra layer of clothing, even in summer—the temperature at the crest can be anywhere from 15 to 25 degrees cooler than down in Albuquerque. This is also the route to the popular Sandia Peak Ski Area.

This quirky and utterly fascinating homage to folk art, found art, and kitsch contains a world of miniature carved-wood characters. Its late founder, Ross Ward, spent more than 40 years carving and collecting the hundreds of figures that populate this cheerfully bizarre museum, including an animated miniature Western village, a Boot Hill cemetery, and a 1940s circus exhibit. Ragtime piano music, a 40-foot sailboat, and a life-size general store are other highlights. The walls surrounding this 22-room museum have been fashioned out of more than 50,000 glass bottles pressed into cement. As you might expect, the gift shop offers plenty of fun oddities.

"Vivác" means "high-altitude refuge," and that's a fitting name for this popular winery located at the junction on NM 68 (the Low Road) and NM 75 (which leads to the High Road). The family-owned vineyards and charming tasting room, with an adjacent patio, are surrounded by the dramatic sheer cliffs of the Rio Grande Gorge. The elegant, generally dry wines, feature a mix of mostly old-world grapes, including Dolcetto, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grüner Veltliner. The tasting room also sells artisanal chocolates, cheese-and-charcuterie plates, jewelry, and contemporary art.