SLA 2004 Leadership Summit

Day Trips in and around Albuquerque

Day Trips for bad weather - stay around Albuquerque

Maxwell Museum at the University of New Mexico - ~1 hour
This is the Albuquerque Anthropological Museum where they have the Chaco artifacts, Sandia Man and other anthropological exhibits.

Go over to the Tamarind if you would like about a 5 block walk from the Maxwell Musuem - ~1 hour or less

Rio Grande Botanical Garden and Albuquerque Aquarium - ~1.5 hours
See the outdoor and indoor gardens, then have lunch there too.

Old Town area
• New Mexico Natural History Museum - ~1.5 hours
• Albuquerque Historical Musuem - art and history across the street from the NMNHM - ~1.5 hours
• National Atomic Museum - ~1 hour
• Tour the church founded in 1706 with lovely hand carved altar and santos.
• See and shop the Indian wares under the portal.
• Go to galleries and shops.
• Dinner at Church Street Cafe, the High Noon Restaurant or Maria Teresa's

Day Trips for good weather

Circle Tour north to Santa Fe the back way - leave Albuquerque via Interstate 40 East to Highway 337 North in Tijeras Canyon, turn north and ...
• Drive to the trading post in Golden to view an old ghost town and shop at the Henderson Trading Post for good Santo Domingo Jewelry and rugs - 45 minutes. There is an active gold mining town just up the hill in the Ortiz mountains. Stop on the ridge and view the western landscape - you can see Cabeson Peak (a volcanic neck) 50 miles away and no sign of human habitation but the road you are on.
• Stop in Madrid and view the old company town for coal mines, galleries and the longest bar in the state at the Mineshaft Tavern. Can tour a coal mine - 30 minutes..
• Continue north to Cerrillos - a turquoise mining area and little western town used as a movie set for Young Guns, The Saga of Elfego Baca, Cowboys and others. Nice board walks.
• Head into Santa Fe - tour the museums on the south side of town. There are three together - The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, The International Folk Art Museum and the Indian Ceremonial Art Museum. You could have lunch at Harry's Road House nearby.
• Go north to the Plaza - park in the public garages. Have lunch at Sena Plaza at the Cafe Sena (or any of 100 other great places to eat).
• Walk to the Plaza and the Old Governors Palace on the north side of the plaza now a museum. Then see the Church of Loretto, the oldest church (est. 1609) and enjoy the atmosphere of the lovely old downtown area.
• Galleries - there are over 230 of them. 100 are on Canyon Road, so walk down Canyon Road and enjoy the buildings as well as the contents.
• Dinner at La Fonda in the central plaza courtyard.
• If it is not too late, you might stop at Santo Domingo Pueblo on the way back to Albuquerque.

Jemez and Bandelier
• Drive north from Albuquerque on I25 to Bernalillo and take the road toward Cuba - NM 550. At San Ysidro, turn toward Jemez Pueblo on NM 4.
• Stop at the Jemez Pueblo Visitor Center and also see the Jemez State Monument in Jemez Springs..
• Stop for a famous Jemez Hummingbird Burger or buy Indian tacos and bread along the way. Or eat at the Laughing Lizard Cafe in Jemez Springs.
• Continue up to Soda Dam and see the active travertine deposits.
• Continue up the lovely road to Battleship Rock enjoying the red rock canyons along the way.
• Turn east towards the Valle Grande, a dormant volcano, a beautiful drive.
• Turn toward Los Alamos on NM 501 and visit the Bradury Science Museum.
• Continue through Los Alamos and take NM 502/4 to Bandelier National Monument. Take the extra time to walk the 3/4 miles to the ceremonial cave and climb the ladders to the cave.
• About 5 hours of driving plus time for the stops.
• Dinner in Santa Fe.

Taos
• Taos is a 2.5 hour drive north from Albuquerque. Take I25 north to Santa Fe, Hwy. 285 then Hwy. 68 north to Taos.
• You will pass the Santa Fe Opera, several Pueblos and Camel Rock on the way. Taos has the Kit Carson Museum, Harding Museum and Library, Taos Pueblo and, of course, the Taos Ski Valley as well. It also has a lovely old town and plaza area to poke around.

Chaco and Acoma
• Head west on I40 about 50 miles to the Acoma turnoff -- stop at the scenic overlook at Laguna Pueblo.
• Go south 10 miles to Acoma - take the tour of the Sky City. This is a town built on top of a mesa and may be the most stunning of the pueblos.
• Go back to the Interstate and take I40 west to Thoreau. Turn north to Crownpoint - get any food and water you may need there.
• Continue on in to Chaco. There are several large ruins in Chaco--Pueblo Bonito is the main one. Casa Rinconada, a huge kiva and Chettro Kettle are some of the others.
• If the day is nice you may want to stretch your legs and head up to Pueblo Alto on the mesa top. There is a small and lovely visitor center here.
• On your drive, either there or back, drive through the Bisti Badlands.
• It takes about 2.5 hours to the turnoff from the paved roads and another 45 minutes into the Chaco itself.

Birding - Salinas ruins and Bosque del Apache
• Take I40 east from Albuquerque to Tijeras, then take Hwy. 337 south toward Mountain Air. Stop at Quari, Gran Quivara National Monument. Two are state parks and Gran Quivara is a national monument. All three are the red rock remnants of the Salinas--salt mine pueblos built by the Spanish Jesuit priests and worked by local Indians. They were destroyed in the pueblo uprising of 1610.
• Quari is known as a good birding spot.
• The drive is a lovely canyon drive and you will see antelope and other wildlife along the way.
• Drive east to San Antonio -- you could stop for lunch at the old Inn there. Or stay overnight at the Casa Blanca Bed and Breakfast.
• At San Antonio head south to the Bosque del Apache. It is best this time of year to try to be there at least an hour before sunrise or sunset to see the 50,000 snow geese and 20,000 sand hill cranes fly. Lots of other birds too.
• Have dinner at the Owl Cafe in San Antonio and a green chili cheese burger.

Other birding
• You can of course go directly to and from the Bosque del Apache on I25 south from Albuquerque. It is about a 1.5 hour drive each way.
• The Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque leads bird walks every Saturday morning at 8:30am from the parking lot in the winter.

RGC Home SLA Home Copyright © SLA. All rights reserved.   Disclaimer Email suggestions to: Carol Hoover   Author: Carol Hoover   Last update: December 17, 2003   URL: http://www.sla.org/chapter/crio/Winter2004/Winter2004main.htm