Taos, New Mexico is known as an art town, rich with galleries, museums and history. Much of Taos can be enjoyed on foot, especially Taos Plaza, which is lined with historic sites and museums. You will see ancient stone and mud dwellings of native Pueblo and Anasazi Indians alongside contemporary pueblos, where some residents of the town still live. Wedged between the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the plunging chasm of the Rio Grande Gorge, the Taos area is a haven for hikers, fishermen and bikers seeking adventure. Come to Taos in July for the week-long Fiestas de Santa Ana y Santiago, an authentic New Mexican festival during which the Plaza is filled with music, food and dance.
The town's many museums are a prime attraction for visiting tourists. Learn about frontiersman Kit Carson at the Kit Carson Home and Museum, a 12-room adobe house that was built in 1825, a block east of the plaza. Displays of buffalo hide, sheepskin bedding, basic kitchen utensils and a cooking fireplace are all evidence of life on the frontier in the early 19th century. The Governor Bent House and Museum, the home of New Mexico's first American governor, is situated a block north of the plaza. The museum is testament to a brutal period in history, the governor's murder during the 1847 Native American and Hispanic rebellion, and his family's escape through a hole in the house's adobe wall. You can pay your respects to the former governor and many others at The Kit Carson Park and Cemetery, one and a half blocks north of the plaza, or relax and play sports in the park's multipurpose courts, fields, playgrounds and picnic areas.
Delve deeper into the art of Taos at the Taos Art Museum, housed in the beautiful and historic home of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin and showcasing the art of more than 50 early twentieth-century Taos artists. The Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico displays paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photographs by Taos-area artists from 1800 to the present. Upstairs are 19th-century pounded-tin pieces and retablos, religious paintings of saints that have traditionally been used for decoration and inspiration in the homes and churches of New Mexico. This museum also serves as a cultural and community center. There are frequently children's programs and concerts by the Taos Chamber Music Group. Art lovers should spend some time exploring shops that sell local and ethnic art. Silver and turquoise jewelry and pottery are very popular.
Taos has some very interesting architecture. Most buildings were built in the Santa Fe style, characterized by stark, curving stucco walls and flat roofs, inspired by the ancient stone and mud homes of native Pueblo and Anasazi Indians. Don't miss the large, pyramid-shaped Taos Pueblo, notable for the wooden ladders leading from level to level. The structure is built to echo the shape of Taos Mountain. One of 19 existing pueblo's in New Mexico, the pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years by the Tiwa Pueblo tribe, and is currently home to about 2,000 residents, more than 100 of whom still live like their ancestors did 1,000 years ago, without electricity or running water. The buildings' distinctive straw and mud plaster exteriors are typical of Pueblo architecture throughout the Southwest. They blend seamlessly with the surrounding land, and bright-blue doors are the same shade as the sky. You can visit the residents' studios, sample homemade bread, look into the San Geronimo Chapel, and wander past the fascinating ruins of the old church and cemetery. If you would like to try traditional feast-day meals, the Tiwa Kitchen, near the entrance to the pueblo is a good choice. Close to Tiwa Kitchen is the Oo-oonah Children's Art Center, where you can see the creative works of pueblo children. Check for the dates of the many traditional festivals held here.
After you finish taking in all the culture in Taos, gear up for the great outdoors. Just outside of town is a great 18-mile off-road bike trail that traces the top of the 700-foot deep Rio Grande Gorge. The trail starts right outside of Taos, so your best bet is to rent a bike in town and pedal out to the trailhead. There are also hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the county's mountain and high-mesa country. One of the easiest hikes to access is the West Rim Trail, a 9-mile trail along the rim of the gorge. Since much of the desert plant life is thorny and sometimes poisonous, closed shoes are a must for hiking. The sage meadows and pine-covered mountains around Taos make for a beautiful horseback ride. Taos Indian Horse Ranch, on Pueblo land off Ski Valley Road, and Rio Grande Stables, offer rides and overnight trips during the summer months at Taos Ski Valley.
Some of the best large trout fishing in northern New Mexico is to be found slightly to the west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains outside of Taos, from August through October. Hunting of turkey, grouse, band-tailed pigeons and elk is available by permit in the Carson National Forest. Hunting seasons vary year to year, so it's important to ask ahead with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department in Santa Fe.
Adventure seekers will want to shoot the 17 miles of Class III-IV whitewater rapids of the Taos section of the Rio Grande. Many local outfitters can arrange single or multi-day tours from April to July. Hot-air ballooning is also very popular in Taos. Trips are offered by Paradise Hot Air Balloon Adventure. Consider walking across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, 10 miles west of Taos, which spans the Southwest's greatest river. At 650 feet above the canyon floor, it's one of America's highest bridges.
You may want to stop by one of the many Taos wineries to take a tour or pick up a bottle before dinner. Wine lovers should try to catch the Winter Wine Festival in mid-January. There are many restaurants in Taos to satisfy everyone's tastes, though make sure to arrive early, as most finsh serving around nine. After dinner you may be able to see performances by the New Mexico Repertory Theater or the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.
Accommodations in town range from campsites to showy hotels and quaint bed & breakfasts. Most of the hotels and motels are on Paseo del Pueblo Sur and Norte, with a few scattered just east of the town center, along Kit Carson Road. The condos and bed & breakfasts are generally found on Taos's back streets, and many are located in rebuilt and restored Spanish haciendas or Victorian mansions. Summer is a very popular time to visit Taos, so make sure to book early!
Many celebrities call this wonderful destination home at least part of the year. You may spot former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, country/pop singers Lynn Anderson and Michael Martin Murphy, and even Julia Roberts!
Taos is located in northern New Mexico, 72 miles north of Santa Fe.