Headed to New Mexico (Santa Fe & Albuquerque) in November

Hey NM and other SW folks,

I'm headed to NM with my father this fall and am looking for places to go, off-road, where i can reach with my (mostly) stock Tacoma. I'm not afraid to get it dirty and certainly will take it off road, but i'm not a "body armor" or "giant tires" guy.

My father and i are both photographers and are looking to get off the beaten path to capture some shots.

Any tips would be most appreciated on where to go, what trails my truck can handle and where i might go for more info.

Thanks!
jd

 

Need more info to give you any good tips.

What dates? Where's your base camp / hotel (ABQ, SF, Taos)? I see your a flatlander, so how do you think you'll do with elevation? It's 5-7K feet ASL in most of northern NM and significantly higher in the mountains.

 

oh that made me laugh.... but tis is a good question

 

We'd love a little of both...the key here is that we get to places that are photogenic (and that my mostly-stock Tacoma can get to).

Thanks for responding!

 

I'll be mid-November, probably starting around the 17th-ish. We'll probably base out of either ABQ or SF. We'll start in ABQ...and we'll be out there ~5 days total.

Yup, Flatlander, but no stranger to elevation. I've spent a lot of time upwards of 9000 feet (even a 14er or two). Also not afraid of some snow...where i'm from, we get plenty of lake effect from Lake Superior. I'll have chains in the truck too...those help.

 

definitely a good question. my lungs usually burn good while i'm scaling up backcountry skiing upwards of 9000 feet...but i'm pretty sure i'm not going to be doing any randonee skiing on this trip.

 

Don't want anybody having a heart attack, right?

By mid November you'll have missed all of the fall colors, both in southern CO and northern NM. There are still plenty of nice landscapes to keep you busy though.

How far / long are you willing to drive daily from ABQ/SF? Also, are you going to be equipped for camping / overnight trips, or sticking to day trips? Interested in shooting landscapes, cultural sites, sunsets, architecture?

 

we're willing to drive quite a ways and will be prepared in case we need to camp...but don't plan on it as our primary form of sleeping.

i'm a landscape, wildlife and macro photographer mainly, but will shoot anything that i can sell and make money on.

 

Okay... so here's some ideas... in no particular order.

1. Cabezon Peak and the ghost town of Cabezon, about an hour NW of ABQ. Old structures, landscapes, possible sightings of wild horses.

2. Jemez mountain tour... Take 550 NW out of Bernalillo, catch Hwy 4 going N out of San Ysidro, and follow it all the way around to Los Alamos. Come out to the west on 502, then head back to ABQ on 84 through Santa Fe to ABQ. Lots to see in the Jemez. Soda Dam, Battleship Rock, Valle Grande, Jemez Falls, Fenton Lake, Jemez Pueblo, Gilman Tunnels. You could spend a long day up there.

3. Head up to Cochiti Lake and visit Tent Rocks... you'll get some awesome landscape shots.

4. Take the road up to Sandia Crest for an awesome overlook of ABQ, and walk the trail south from the crest parking lot to the rock house and the upper tram station. Views for days.

5. Check out the plazas. Downtown ABQ, or Downtown Santa Fe. You could spend a long afternoon in either, but you'll have more photo ops in Santa Fe.

6. Head up to Taos. The drive to Taos from ABQ along the Rio Grande offers some awesome views. You can peel off at Pilar and drive up into the canyon, and the view as you crest the hill heading north into Taos on Hwy 68 is worth the drive all by itself. If you have it in you, drive the enchanted circle out of Taos going east on Hwy 64 to Angel Fire & Eagle Nest, then north on 38 over red river pass into questa, then back south on 522 into Taos. For extra photo ops, check out the Wild Rivers Area, or shoot out onto hwy 64 west of Taos to see the Gorge bridge... suspension bridge over an 800 ft deep canyon.

7. Take I40 west to Grants, then take the road up to the summit of Mt. Taylor. The views from the top of an 11K foot dormant volcano with over 4K feet of prominence will surely impress. The road ends just a few hundred feet shy of the summit. There is a native American ceremonial site at the top.

I can keep going, but that should give you something to chew on.

 

These are all fantastic, Nick...looked on Google maps and this is exactly the kind of thing i was hoping for from TCworld! I have my NM Gazetteer at home...time to start planning to get to some of them when i head that way!

 

Don't forget the Bisti Badlands and White Sands National Monument...

 

Great list, BFAD. I'd like to throw in the Salinas missions ruins near Mountainair. There are three of them, Quari, Abo and Gran Quivera. Quari & Abo are built from red rock and Gran Quivera is the largest. You could do these in a long half day or a relaxed full day.

Another is Chaco Canyon. It's a full day but is well regarded as one of the premier Native American ruins in North America. Plus the drive up 550 is pure New Mexico.

 

I'm glad you found the suggestions helpful. You should post some of your pictures & a brief trip report in this thread when you get back. You know, as a thank you.

Yup... good suggestions. Bisti is about 3 hours NW of ABQ on 550, and White Sands is about 3.5 hours south and east.

This is a good point. The summit is high enough that it could get it's first snow right now if the right storm/temps rolled through. The Ice Caves are cool, as are the lava tubes found in that area. I've spent some time exploring those things and they are surprisingly expansive.

I've been meaning to check out those missions for awhile now. I hear they're pretty cool.

Also, if Chaco is too far you can hit Bandalier, which is also in the Jemez area in about half the time. Lots of cool cliff dwellings and plenty of scenery, too.

http://www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/index.htm

 

Well, thanks for the offer on the tour...that's very cool of you! As I put together our plans, I'll keep that in mind for sure!

 

Good call, i'll take some iPhone pics, specifically from this trip and post them here and once i get them out of my SLR's, get a few up.

All great tips!!

 

Subd im going to have to go check out some of these places next spring. Im in Colorado and I think I may have figured out where Im going next year for vacation..
Great list @BigFishAllDay

 

Sounds good. I look forward to seeing where you end up. Have fun.

I'm glad you found it useful. You should come on down, NM is an awesome state.

 

Well, i'm back from NM and it was AWESOME! Gonna get back, for sure. Sadly, we came in on the heels of the storm taht dropped all the snow last week...which really put a dampener on where we could get to (safely). We spent as much time on dirt roads as we could and got up onto some Forest Service Roads...but not into the backcountry, as i'd hoped.

 

Nice, man! Thanks for following up and posting some pics. I see a few shots from the Jemez area in there. Where all did you guys visit?