Day Trips from Albuquerque

An hour north on the Turquoise Trail, Santa Fe crams 400 years of history, adobe architecture, and excellent art into a walkable downtown. Spend the morning at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, lunch on the Plaza’s sidewalk cantinas, then gallery-hop Canyon Road before driving back in time for Albuquerque’s evening events.

A winding mountain drive northwest leads to sandstone cliffs, natural hot springs, and the tiny village of Jemez Springs. Hike the 2-mile Slot Canyon Trail, soak in secluded river-side pools, and feast on green-chile elk burgers at Los Ojos before looping back through golden cottonwood forests.

Climb 140-foot ladders into Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings, wander petroglyph-lined Frijoles Canyon, and watch elk graze beneath ponderosa pines. The park’s compact layout lets you sample archaeology, easy forest hikes, and a visitor-center museum in a single loop.

This 13-mile-wide super-volcano crater is now a quiet preserve of grassy valles, roaming elk herds, and steaming fumaroles. Ranger-led van tours reach the valley floor; add a 3-mile fly-fishing session or cross-country ski loop in winter for adventurous things to do in New Mexico.

Perched atop a 367-foot sandstone mesa, Sky City has been continuously inhabited for 1,000 years. Native guides lead 90-minute tours through adobe streets, past 17th-century mission ruins and artisan pottery studios; purchase traditional micaceous clay cookware for a unique souvenir.

Ride rolling slick-rock single-track amid chalk-white mesas, then detour to the alien hoodoos of Bisti for sunset. The trails are beginner-friendly, but bring GPS—rock formations shift yearly and cell service is nil.