Day 2 of 2026 Trip to the Rockies, Santa Fe and High Road to Taos
The second day of my 2026 trip to the Rocky Mountains. I would take a brief tour of New Mexico History Museum and downtown Santa Fe in the morning, before taking the High Road to Taos in the afternoon.
Having climbed Lake Peak outside Santa Fe the previous day and with plans to tackle Wheeler Peak outside Taos the following day, I intended to take it easy today, with a casual stroll to experience the culture of downtown Santa Fe before driving to Taos in the afternoon.
Santa Fe
With only about four hours to spend in downtown Santa Fe, my plan was to visit the New Mexico History Museum first, followed by a walking tour of the rest of the downtown area.
New Mexico History Museum
Overall, I found this to be a very pleasant little museum tucked next to Santa Fe Plaza, showcasing the state's rich history in a manner that was objective and fair. It also encompasses the "Palace of the Governors," which unfortunately served primarily as additional exhibit space, leaving no traces of the daily life and duties of a New Mexico Governor to be discovered.
A TLDR version of New Mexico's history:
- Native peoples had long inhabited the region.
- Spanish explorers set up a colony (Juan de Oñate's 1598 expedition).
- Native peoples fought back and repelled them (1680 Pueblo Revolt).
- Spanish people fought back and regained control for more than a century.
- Mexico gained independence from Spain, and lost the war with United States who annexed the territory.
Additionally, the museum touched upon the "La Conquistadora" statue when introducing the Pueblo Revolt. This was the first Madonna statue brought to what is now the United States. During the revolt, the fleeing Spanish took it with them. After the uprising was suppressed, the new governor, Don Diego de Vargas, returned it to Santa Fe. Because he believed the statue had aided him against the native peoples, a festival "Fiesta de Santa Fe" was created, during which it would be paraded through the streets.
The statue was now housed in The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, which, coincidentally, I was about to visit later today.
Rest of Santa Fe
After leaving the New Mexico History Museum, I gave the parts of downtown Santa Fe near Santa Fe Plaza a quick walking tour. While the city is renowned for its dense art galleries and fine cuisine, I had little taste for either, which left me to focus on its distinctive Pueblo-style adobe architecture (despite most structures being modern constructions wearing the Pueblo aesthetics facade), and a number of historical churches.
As mentioned earlier, I wandered into Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, with its historic La Conquistadora Statue.
High Road to Taos
After lunch in Santa Fe, my afternoon plan was to drive to the town of Taos, where I would spend the night.
Two routes connect Santa Fe to Taos: the standard Low Road (River Road) along State Route 68, and the more scenic High Road to Taos (State Routes 503/76/75/518). The latter added merely 6 miles and 17 minutes to the journey, winding through picturesque countryside dotted with points of interest, so the choice was an easy one.
Camel Rock
This proved to be a quick roadside stop situated along the frontage road of US 84, just before the Low and High Roads diverge, near the historic Tesuque Pueblo. Here, erosion had sculpted a remarkably top-heavy rock formation that resembled the head of a camel.
Nambe Badlands
After the town of Pojoaque, I turned onto the High Road to Taos. The road soon led through Nambe, a town whose namesake creek originated at Nambe Lake, nestled below Lake Peak, which I climbed the previous day. Between Nambe and Chimayo, the road wound through gently rolling hills of vividly colored badlands. A passing storm only intensified the landscape’s vibrant hues. Unfortunately, there were few roadside turnouts along this stretch where I could pull over to appreciate the views.
Santuario de Chimayo
My next stop along the way was the Santuario de Chimayo, a church just outside Chimayo famous for its annual pilgrimage, a ritual I had seen documented this very morning at the New Mexico History Museum.
Like many small community churches along the High Road to Taos, it featured Pueblo-style adobe walls topped with a metal sheet roof (a fascinating fusion of styles). Photography was not permitted inside the church building, but the sanctuary exuded a lovely, peaceful tranquility.
Cordova Scenic Overlook
Leaving Santuario de Chimayo, evidence of a storm hours earlier was on full display in the town of Chimayo, where mud and debris had washed onto the roadway and created a mini traffic jam.
From Chimayo, my next stop was a roadside turnout near the town of Cordova, where views opened up to an extensive field to the north and interesting rock formations across it.
Here's a video of my drone flying over that field towards the rock formations:
1 minute 3 seconds, 2160p60, H265 only, 12Mbps/102MB file size.
Truchas Overlook
My next stop was a scenic overlook just beyond the village of Truchas, arguably my favorite viewpoint along the entire High Road to Taos. The vista resembled a landscape painting rendered in three dimensions: neat tracts of farmland carved from the earth in the foreground, while behind them the Truchas peaks soared with alpine grace, completing a scene of perfect pastoral serenity.
Trampas
This was a very small farming village, with a Pueblo-style church, San José de Gracia Church, just by the road. Unfortunately the church was closed to visitors. Nearby, there was an information board detailing how the village of Trampas was established in 1751 by a land grant from the then New Mexico governor.
Vadito Scenic Viewpoint
My next stop was a scenic overlook outside the town of Vadito. With its easier access to water from the Rio Santa Barbara, the farmland here was more lush than that at Truchas, though confined to a narrow river valley. And while mountains provided a backdrop similar to what I'd seen before, they lacked the prominence of the Truchas Peaks.
In the end, I reached my overnight hotel in the town of Taos at 5:30pm. Just in time for a quick dinner before I retired to bed early, as I needed to wake up early to climb Wheeler Peak the following morning.
END