New Mexico. It’s a place no one seems to know much about, but those who have been, try and keep it under wraps. Living in Texas, we wanted to take a week to camp, hike, bike, basically immerse ourselves in the outdoors. After talking to a few different people, we chose New Mexico (having never been) and it did not disappoint.
We spent a week bouncing between Angel Fire, Taos, Los Alamos and Santa Fe, before one of us flew back home while the other remained for another week of pure nature bliss.
Quick rundown on that first week – we spent the first two days in Angel Fire to acclimate to the higher elevation. After that, we drove west to Taos before moving on to Los Alamos and Santa Fe. We’ll cover off on the first few days in Angel Fire and Taos before moving on to Los Alamos and Santa Fe.
ANGEL FIRE
Day 1-2: We typically like to disperse camp. Luckily, the first spot we had marked was a winner – Carson National Forest – Forest Road 5. There are a handful of spots and we ended up finding an open one toward the end of the road in a turnaround area. By far the best camping spot we stayed at for the whole trip. It was quiet, clean and we were able to take the gravel bikes out for a short four-mile RT ride when we arrived. The forest road is gravel and about two miles one way.
Day 3: Before heading to Taos, we wanted to get a good gravel ride in. We found a few routes on Ride with GPS, including this Angel Fire 15.5-mile ride. We staged at Frontier Park Coming from North Texas where there’s ZERO elevation…..this ride kicked our butts. One of us more than the other. But the views from the top were gorgeous and it was all downhill in the second half. We did shorten it to just over 12 miles, coming back on State Road 434 instead of crossing it and looping back around to the start.
After the ride we started for Taos. A few recommended checking out the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on the way and it was worth it. There’s a short hike just off the visitor center parking lot that puts you along the edge of the gorge. We walked to the first bench and turned around because of the heat. Definitely worth a stop though and a great spot to refill waters on the way.
It took about 1.5 hours to get to our camping spot near Taos Ski Valley. We opted to disperse camp on State Road 150 heading up to the resort. There were about five camping areas along the road – Lower Hondo, Cuchilla Del Medio, Cuchilla are labeled on Google Maps, but there’s a few more that aren’t and can also be found next to the river along the route. We found a nice spot at Cuchilla Campground and bonus, it had a bathroom right there too. We even washed off in the river where previous campers had staged rocks to create a slower moving spot to sit and cool off.
TAOS
Day 4: We originally had our sights set on hiking Wheeler Peak – the tallest peak in New Mexico. Unfortunately, we found out when we got to New Mexico that the trail was closed due to tribal traditional and cultural purposes (Aug. 21 – Aug. 27). It does close for a week around the same time each year, so something to keep in mind in the future.
Instead of Wheeler Peak, we drove up to Taos Ski Resort where we parked and started on the Bull of the Woods Mountain trail. It was a shorter 6-mile trail with about 2,100 ft elevation gain. Moderate hike, especially after the bike ride the previous day, but again, the views were worth it. Especially since we weren’t able to hike Wheeler Peak.
We made a quick bite to eat after the hike and then set off for Los Alamos where we spent a majority of the remainder of the trip. It’s also where we had one of the best gravel rides we’ve done. Check out Biking the Jemez for more!
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