Outdoor Adventures

Discover The City Different’s

OUTDOORSoutdoor playground! Located in the Southern Rocky Mountains at 7,000 feet, Santa Fe is a semiarid climate at the crossroads of grass and shrub lands, piñonjuniper woodlands, and 1.6 million acres of coniferous national forest.

With the towering Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, the Rio Grande Valley to the south and west, and the Jemez Mountains for your sunsets, enthusiasts can often ski, bike, hike, fish, golf, and paddle, all in the same week!

HIKE

From foothills to mountain peaks, Santa Fe County has more than 300 miles of hiking trails.

The Dale Ball Trail system offers 24 miles of hiking with access points throughout the foothill neighborhoods east of downtown, including the popular Sierra del Norte parking lot. Find handy maps at trail junctions.

The Chamisa Trail, just a 15-minute drive from downtown delivers national forest access and the ponderosa pines and aspens that come with it. You may feel the altitude on this trail, but it’s a gradual grade and offers the option of a loop.

In the fall, hike the aptly named Aspen Vista Trail to bathe in the golden aspens and catch views of the whole valley aglow. It’s about 6.5 miles to the top, but an easy out and back for turning around at any point.

To access the numerous trails on Atalaya Mountain, your best bet is to park in the lot at the entrance to St. John’s College. Plot your course using the trailhead map.

Travel the Turquoise Trail to Cerrillos Hills State Park, just 16 miles from Santa Fe. Enjoy five miles of gently sloping trails with views of the Sandia, Ortiz, Jemez, and Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges, and learn about the former mines that populated the area.

Singletracks Mountain Bike News rated The City Different #7 in the Top 10 Mountain Bike Destinations in North America.

BIKE

The number of bike shops in Santa Fe suggests biking is a wholly embraced activity here. Call ahead to reserve a rental.

Road Cycling

Enjoy miles of scenic vistas, including a 16-mile, one-way spin up to Ski Santa Fe at a peak elevation of 10,350 feet or choose your distance along the Turquoise Trail to Cerrillos or Madrid or through Galisteo Basin Preserve.

Mountain Biking

Easy: With a rugged-ish mountain bike, enjoy the 17-ish-mile out-and-back Rail Trail, part asphalt and part dirt, along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. If you ride the length, you’ll end up in Lamy, but you can turn around at any point. Great for families.

Easy to Moderate: Just 14 miles from Santa Fe, with views of the Ortiz Mountains, explore more than 40 miles of trails through sandstone, grasslands, and arroyos in the Galisteo Basin Preserve. Trail maps at most junctures. Park in any lot for different access points. Great for hiking, too.

Or try the La Tierra Trail system, an expanse of 25 miles of trails, pump tracks, and jump courses that were once part of the 31,000-acre Buckman Ranch. Choose from three trailheads, each offering different access to the same great network. Nice for walking, too.

Moderate to Difficult: Glorieta Adventure Camps, just 22 miles from Santa Fe, offer public access to 20 miles of trails. Roll along through aspen stands, pine forests, and granite canyons with views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Glorieta Baldy. Park at the Baptist Bypass Trailhead. Good for hiking, too.

Difficult: For higher-elevation, more technical rides, hop on the Blue Bus shuttle to trailheads along Hyde Park Road, concluding at Ski Santa Fe. The lengthy and varied Winsor Trail holds a big draw for the more experienced rider.

PADDLE & BOAT

You’ll be amazed by all of the paddling and rafting opportunities within a short drive of Santa Fe. Tubing is a blast as well, particularly on a few-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from the Taos Junction bridge to the town of Pilar or on a stretch of the Rio Chama below the Abiquiú dam, where a whitewater wave feature sees dozens of kayakers.

The Rio Grande and Rio Chama offer paddlers a diverse selection of half-day, full-day, and multi-day trips, ranging from mellow Class I to technical Class IV rapids, sure to put even the most experienced paddler to the test.

Farther afield is the San Juan River, where you can float from the bottom of the Navajo Lake about 115 miles on Class I to II water. Or enjoy the lake itself for motorized boats, canoers, kayakers, water skiers, and sailors. Abiquiú Lake and Storrie Lake also welcome a variety of craft.

There are plenty of local guiding companies to put you on the stretch of water most suited to your interests.

GOLF

Santa Fe offers wonderful options for all players, be they novices or advanced with low handicaps. Award-winning and 3rd-partyendorsed 9- and 18-hole courses feature natural rolling topography and dramatic elevation changes, as well signature rock formations and indigenous vegetation that organically delineate individual holes. Enjoy distant views of the Sangre de Cristos as you walk or ride the courses.

At the top of the must-play list is Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe, just eight miles west of downtown. This legendary course is in highend country club condition, with 360-degree views.

Fishing the lakes, streams, and rivers of Northern New Mexico is rewarding. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish regularly stocks many of these waters with hatchery rainbow trout, supplementing resident populations of brown and brook trout and, in certain stillwaters, lake trout and kokanee salmon. New Mexico is blessed with two species of native trout—the Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the north, and the Gila trout in the south. Consider yourself fortunate to catch either one of these species, as they are becoming increasingly rare.

Whether in the conifer-forested Pecos River near Santa Fe or the red sandstone country around the Rio Chama, New Mexico’s designated Special Trout Waters offer no end of fishing adventures. Bisecting the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, the Wild and Scenic section of the Rio Grande promises a spectacular hike, wildlife viewing opportunities and, of course, excellent fishing. The Red River, which joins the Rio Grande midway through the monument, is an unforgettable option as well. Another spot along the Rio Grande to consider is the Orilla Verde Recreation Area, just 50 miles north of Santa Fe.

Farther afield is the San Juan River, a tailwater flowing out of Navajo Dam, which makes for fairly consistent yearround temperatures and great yearround fishing in beautiful desert canyon scenery.

Monastery Lake is a perfect family fishing destination. Cowles Ponds, about 15 miles up the Pecos Canyon, is designated for children under the age of 12.

Plenty of local fishing services are available to guide you to waters fitting your taste and skill level.

SPOTLIGHT

Heritage Inspirations 211 Old Santa Fe Trail (inside the Inn and Spa at Loretto) heritageinspirations.com | 888.344.TOUR (8687) Heritage Inspirations provides year-round, authentically-curated guided travel experiences. Our E-Bike, Walking, Glamping and adventurous tours dive deep into the heritage, incredible people, cultural sites and traditions, and awe-inspiring natural wonders of New Mexico. We will thoughtfully anticipate your needs and feed your soul on every tour!

SNOWSPORTS

Located just 16 miles from the heart of downtown, Ski Santa Fe offers some of the finest slopes in the Southwest, and some of the fluffiest snow. With a base elevation of 10,350 feet and a peak elevation of 12,075 feet, Ski Santa Fe offers expansive vistas of all the beauty that is Northern New Mexico, plus terrain for every skill level with 86 runs. The rental shop is well equipped, as is the onsite retail shop. Choose from two eateries with outdoor decks for soaking in the rays while refueling with delicious regional dishes.

Love snowy sports, but prefer no lift? Park at Ski Santa Fe and access the Winsor Trail for miles of wilderness snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Just down the road toward town, try the two-mile Norski Trail, a loop designated for the cross-country skier only. Close by, the out-and-back Aspen Vista Trail is wide and has a gradual grade, perfect for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing.

Or for fun with kiddos of any age, Hyde Memorial State Park, located halfway between downtown and Ski Santa Fe, sports a sledding and tubing hill sure to put a smile on the young thrill-seeker.

Ski Santa Fe was chosen by readers of Condė Nast Traveler as one of The Top Ski Resorts in the US.

SPOTLIGHT

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