Chamisa Trail

Hyde Memorial State Park yurts are nestled high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains amongst the ponderosa pines, and sleep six and provide a modern setting with roots in ancient tradition. Their location in the State Park provide easy access to park's vast trail system.Each bed has  an encapsulated dense foam mattresses that can be grouped together in various configurations. While there is no ele...

The Dale Ball Trail system, covers a wide swath of terrain between Santa Fe County, the City of Santa Fe, the National Forest, and The Nature Conservancy with a 22 mile network of trails in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Located a short distance from downtown Santa Fe, it is the quickest way to get from the city into the mountains. It offers great opportunities for beginners a...

Begin this trail from the Cerro Gordo Trailhead which is only about 10 minutes from Santa Fe Plaza. You can park in the lot near the intersection of Cerro Gordo and Upper Canyon Rd. The lot will fill up on the weekends so arrive early. From the lot, take the short Nature Conservancy trail to the Dale Ball trail marker. You will pass through two green gates, cross a stream and meet back up with ...

People come from all over the world to see sunsets in the southwest. This is a great little spot tucked away in a neighborhood I stayed in for a month. On Rodriguez street, there is a parking space for "visitors" of a particular house in the neighborhood (marked on the map). I didn't see a car there once the entire month. It has a lot of space to comfortably set up a tripod and have 2 or 3 peo...

For a sweeping view of Santa Fe and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, visit Cross of the Martyrs at Fort Marcy Park. This scenic overlook can be accessed via a switchback path accessed from the road Paseo De Peralta on the Northeast side of town. As you make your way up the switchbacks, a series of plaques tell you of Santa Fe's history. If you are looking for a place to catch sunset, this is a g...

Along the downtown Santa Fe plaza, you will run into an obvious architectural beauty. It's the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis de Assisi. It's placed perfectly in the plaza where the sunset will make the massive structure glow or have interesting shadows cast off its facade. The cathedral itself is large with a big courtyard that doesn't receive as much sun, so keeping to the front of the bu...