NM08 - Northern New Mexico — Northern Exposure

Ah, the road trip. Northern New Mexico is the perfect destination — fascinating amid sweeping panoramas of the high desert and towering mountains. It’s a huge, beautiful, diverse area to cover on a vacation, but here are four car-ready excursions to fill an afternoon or a weekend in this wondrous part of the Land of Enchantment.

1. North of Santa Fe
The city of Española is the starting point for exploring the Jemez Mountains northwest of Santa Fe. The Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate founded a settlement here in 1598, making it one of the oldest cities in the country. First, head north on U.S. 84 to Abiquiú, a tiny village whose spectacular scenery was immortalized in the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. You can tour her adobe home or just ogle the multi-hued hillsides all around (505-685-4539 to tour her home in Abiquiú).

Next, return to Española and climb the steep mesas to the west to reach Los Alamos, birthplace of the atomic bomb. The legacy of the Manhattan Project lives on at Los Alamos National Laboratory and its Bradbury Science Museum. Explore the more distant past at Bandelier National Monument, where you can climb steep ladders to centuries-old dwellings carved into the soft volcanic rock, or just hike along cottonwood-lined streams. This is the eastern edge of what remains of a huge ancient volcano, one of the largest calderas on the planet. You’ll get the picture at the Valle Grande west of Los Alamos, a former cattle ranch on the vast caldera floor that’s now a National Preserve. It’s one of New Mexico’s most amazing vistas.

2. High Road to Taos
The centuries-old trading route between Santa Fe and Taos is now a half-day drive through remote villages at the base of 13,000-foot peaks. Start at Nambé Pueblo, occupied since the 1300s, where you can splash around at the base of Nambe Falls in the hot summer months. Continue north to Chimayó, called the “Lourdes of the Americas” for the alleged healing powers of soil taken from a hole in the floor of its legendary church, the 1816 Santuario de Chimayó. Stop by Ortega’s Weaving Shop for gorgeous textiles — they’ve been doing it for eight generations.

From here, N.M. 76 winds northeast through beautiful, rugged country. Signs point to the homes and studios of artists and artisans along the way, many of which are open to visitors. Robert Redford set his film version of The Milagro Beanfield War in tiny Truchas, in the shadow of jagged mountains. In Las Trampas, the church of San José de Gracia is one of New Mexico’s most outstanding adobe churches. Built in the late 1700s, it still holds many of its original religious paintings. Keep going through the pine-covered hillsides of the Carson National Forest to reach Taos.

3. Enchanted Circle
The Enchanted Circle definitely earns its moniker. This 84-mile loop around Wheeler Peak — at 13,161 feet, New Mexico’s highest point — can easily fill two or three days with craggy views and cultural offerings. Starting north of Taos, N.M. 522 heads north along the east side of the Río Grande Gorge to Questa, where you’ll turn east onto N.M. 38 and start climbing into the mountains. Red River, the next stop, is a former gold boomtown in the Red River Valley. Here you’ll find Red River Ski Area, a small ski area for winter excitement and great hiking, fishing, and mountain biking in the summer.

The circle winds south past Elizabethtown, an evocative ghost town that once had over 7,000 residents. Don’t miss the museum among the ruins. The town of Eagle Nest sits on the northern edge of 2,200-acre Eagle Nest Lake, which is regularly stocked with trout and salmon. Just east of town on U.S. 68 is Cimarron Canyon State Park, part of the state’s largest protected wildlife area, great for hiking and cross-country skiing. Keep going to reach Angel Fire Resort, another downhill ski area with 70 trails, a tubing hill, cross-country ski center and — if it happens to be summer — a great golf course.

4. Northwest New Mexico (Indian Country)
Gallup bills itself at the “Gateway to Indian Country,” and rightfully so with its position at the corner of the Navajo Reservation, which is about the size of West Virginia. Its main street — Old Route 66 — is lined with trading posts selling every kind of craft imaginable made by the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, and other tribes. The Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial in July is one of the largest native gatherings in the U.S., and the Red Rock Balloon Rally in December brings hundreds of hot air balloons.

From Gallup, U.S. 491 (formerly U.S. 666) leads north across the bleak beauty of the eastern Navajo Reservation. The town of Ship Rock was named after the unmistakable 1,800-foot formation it sits near, once the core of an old volcano. Ship Rock hosts the Northern Navajo Fair every October, with a rodeo, pow-wow, and traditional songs and dances. You’ll have to enter Colorado or Arizona briefly to reach the Four Corners Monument, the only place where four states (don’t forget Utah) meet. Farmington, the regional hub, has many trading posts full of Indian art. Near the charming city of Aztec you’ll find Aztec Ruins National Monument, a large set of ruins that were abandoned in the 13th century.

Julian Smith is a freelance travel writer and author Four Corners: Including Navajo and Hopi Country, Moab, and Lake Powell (Moon Handbooks). His Web site is www.juliansmith.com.