11 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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.