Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Start at the Sandia Mountain base terminal where you can purchase your tickets to ride the tram (Tip: If you make reservations at the peaks restaurant, High Finance, you can get a discount on your ticket). Enjoy the 15 minute ride to the peak while taking in beautiful city views of Albuquerque as...

Although you can reach these hot springs via the main trail in the winter, the Thompson Ridge route is a shorter option that comes in from above the springs rather than below. If you go in winter, you'll need winter route finding skills for the trail (there's no signage at any point) and an all w...

Start your road trip at the Pueblo Visitor Center. You can stop at the Jemez State Monument to visit the old ruins of the Mission. Then head to the Jemez Falls. Continue the drive  through beautiful red rock scenery to Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument. 

These hot springs are a short hike from the parking area along the top of Forest Service Road 376. I've added additional details below in the event that the road is closed due to seasonality or you prefer to stretch your legs for a significantly longer, yet scenic hike. The GPX track is displayin...

The Michael M. Emery and Trail 305 Loop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a moderately challenging hiking trail. It spans approximately 3.17 miles and is primarily used for hiking, walking, and nature trips. The trail is well-marked and offers a variety of terrain, including dirt paths, rocky sectio...

This point-to-point hike took me about 11.5 hours to complete, however I consider myself to be in decent hiking shape and was moving at about 2.5 miles per hour for the majority of the hike. I would give yourself ample time if you want to complete this in 1 day or you can back country primitive c...

Loop: South Crest Trail > Lower Faulty Trail > Upper Faulty Trail > South Crest Trail The trail starts at the Canyon Estates Trailhead along the South Crest Trail. You'll follow this trail for 0.8 miles before you reach the junction for the Lower Faulty Trail. This is the steepest part o...

This is a hiking area in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. This route is a 3.9 mile heavily trafficked loop up Oso Ridge and down Embudito Canyon.  There is plenty of room to park at the Embudito Trail Trail head, on the eastern side of Albuquerque. From the parking lot, take the center trai...

If you find yourself in Taos for the weekend, the La Senda del Medio trail is a perfect hike to add to your adventure. About 20 minutes south of town and located in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, this trail follows the Rio Grande for 2.5 miles and connects 5 different campgrounds. The tr...

This is one of the most photographed festivals in the world. Professionals and amateurs gather here each year to take millions of photos, and your goal (albeit a difficult one) is to capture a unique perspective at this event. Something that conveys the particular emotion of what the balloon fest...

*This is a loop hike so you can go either direction. I like going counterclockwise to hike the steepest part up instead of down at the end of a long hike.* You'll start out on the Three Gun Trail for about half a mile until you reach a spur to take Hawk Watch Trail. After traveling briefly on thi...

The trail starts out at the Three Guns Trailhead and has great signage as you drive to it. You'll start the hike on the Three Guns Trail for about 0.5 mile before you'll officially cross into Cibola National Forest. Once you enter there will almost immediately be a spur to the Hawk Watch Trail to...