Day Trips with the Kids

• Cochiti Pueblo and Lake
  I25 south to exit 259. Take NM 16 to the pueblo.
  465-2244
  open daily.
  Cochiti Pueblo is famous for its handmade story teller dolls, animals and pottery. Also it is known for the ancient deep toned ceremonial drums that certain tribesmen make by hand. Cochiti Lake is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and is popular for camping, swimming, sailing, and boating.
• Tent Rocks
  Bear left as you pass the dam after visiting Cochiti Pueblo. The entrance to the park is 1/4 mile on the right after the pueblo (there is a 6 mile rough dirt road to the entrance). Open daily from dawn to dusk.
  A hike through this park will pass by ancient rocks that have been shaped by centuries of wind and rain into mysterious tent like objects. The hike is spectacular. Children who are old enough to enjoy walking will be fascinated by the twists and turns through narrow canyons of rock that lead to beautiful vistas of juniper and ever changing rock formations. As the sun and clouds move across the landscape the colors and contours change again and again. Sturdy shoes, a picnic and lots of drinking water are the tools for the hike. Strollers and baby carry packs are not negotiable along this trail. It is a rugged area, but well worth the effort.
• Bandalier National Monument
  Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and several thousand ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier also includes over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness. The best-known archeological sites, in Frijoles Canyon near the Visitor Center, were inhabited from the 1100s into the mid-1500s, and earlier groups had used the area for thousands of years. The park was named for Adolph Bandelier, a 19th-century anthropologist. Proclaimed on February 11, 1916. Acreage: 32,737, all federal. Wilderness area: 23,267.
• Tsankawe Ruins
  Part of the Bandalier National Monument : More ruins, many of them unexcavated, are scattered along adjacent canyons within the Monument boundary, and there is a separate section 11 miles north along NM 4, near the junction with NM 502. This is the Tsankawi pueblo - a large dwelling on a plateau with good views over the Rio Grande and reached by a 1 mile trail.
• Puye Cliff Dwellings
  The 30-minute drive north from here to the Puye Cliff Dwellings (Santa Clara Pueblo; 505/753-7326) is worthwhile if only for the dramatic sweep of mountainside between the two sites; the route is also far more beautiful than the highway to Santa Fe. The view of the caves from the road into the ruins is astounding. Exploring them, however, can involve climbing up some challenging, even treacherous, cliffside ladders.
• Pecos National Historic Park
  Open 8 to 6
  Admission is $3 for adults Kids 16 and under are free
  10 miles out of Santa Fe
  Here you will find a walking tour of Pueblo Ruins and a visitor center museum. The mile and a quarter walking tour takes you to two kiva ceremonial caves that kids can climb into and ruins of a Spanish Mission church. This are was once a trading center for the Plains Indian. The Santa Fe Trail also came thru this valley. A pivotal battle of the Civil War was also fought here. Staff members lead a tour of the civil war battlefield and the ranch house that was once owned by Greer Garson. Transportation is provided for this tour. If you thought Santa Fe wasn't for kids or families, I hope this changes your mind and gives you a taste of what the whole gang can do together while visiting Santa Fe.
• Chaco Canyon
  Closures:
  Hwy 57 from Blanco Trading Post (on US 550) is permanently closed at the park's north boundary. Do not take Hwy 57. From US 550, go to mile 112.5 (3 miles SE of Nageezi) and turn onto CR 7900 and CR 7950. Follow signs to the park.
  Chaco Culture National Historical Park preserves one of America's most significant and fascinating cultural and historic areas. Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area - unlike anything before or since. Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings, and its distinctive architecture. To construct the buildings, along with the associated Chacoan roads, ramps, dams, and mounds, required a great deal of well organized and skillful planning, designing, resource gathering, and construction. The Chacoan people combined pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture - one that still amazes and inspires us a thousand years later.
• High Road to Taos
  The only crucial stop along the 35-mile scenic route between Santa Fe and Taos is Chimayó, the village whose families have passed down the art of weaving for more than 150 years. The Chimayó weaving style is derived from Spanish and Mexican traditions, incorporating those of Central America and Native America. Most children won't want to spend too long contemplating these wonders, but it's worth a stop to see the European-style floor loom and the spectacular rugs made by seven generations of the Trujillo family at Centinela Traditional Arts (Chimayó; 505/351-2180). Of all the shops, this one is the best, and least known to tourists.
• The Rio Grande
  This river doesn't look all that impressive, until you remember its water cut most of the Taos Canyon. Older children can ride the river's less advanced white-water sections with local river-rafting companies in Taos -- Los Rios River Runners operates daily excursions from March through October; (505) 770-8854 -- while younger ones seem content to cast stones in it for hours. Your best bet for great views of the river is to drive along Highway 68, also known as the Low Road, to Taos from Santa Fe. To see rafters take on the rocky chute called the Racehorse, pull off Highway 68 between the villages of Pilar and Rinconada.
• Taos Pueblo
  Just north of Taos at the base of a mountain lies this multistoried adobe pueblo, which has been in this spot for more than 1,000 years. A trip to this site is better for older children who can understand its history. Make sure they know they are touring someone's home and should be gracious guests. Much of the pueblo is off-limits to visitors, so kids shouldn't just wander inside any open doorways. Other than the structures and the beautiful setting, there's not a lot to see here. If possible, come on a ceremonial dance or feast day. Call for a schedule or look on the Web site. Visitors pay $10 per person for admission and $10 per camera. Photography during dances is prohibited. Two miles north of Taos on Hwy. 64; (505) 758-1028; Taos Pueblo
  The Chacoan cultural sites are fragile and irreplaceable and represent a significant part of America's cultural heritage. The sites are part of the sacred homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest, all of whom continue to respect and honor them.
  Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a very special place. Remote and isolated, it offers few amenities, so come prepared. You will find that the rewards are unlimited. http://www.nps.gov/chcu/pphtml/forkids.html
• Santuario de Chimayo
  But children will be more amazed by a pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó (Chimayó; 505/351-4360), 25 miles north of Santa Fe. Soon after the shrine was built in 1816, the faithful began flocking here to cure their ills. Hanging from the ceiling and on the walls in the chapel are the hundreds of crutches and braces-several of them child-size-that have been abandoned. The miracles are attributed to a crucifix of Our Lord of Esquipula, and to this day pilgrims hoping to get in on the magic take a handful of dirt from a hole in the ground in the back room.
• Casa Grande Trading Post
  This is along the historic Turquoise trail where a few mining towns are coming alive again.
  Here you will find for the kids a Trading Post, Petting Zoo, and Mining Museum.
  Great hands on activity for kids who have been in a car for a little while!
• Wildlife West Nature Park
  Built by kids and staffed by volunteers this non profit organization has everything from a Wild Bird Nature Trail to 122 acres of native plants, and rescued not releasable elk, deer, bobcat, mountain lion, foxes, raccoons, turtle, ducks and raptors.
  Enhanced Zoo and Wildlife Refuge
  East of the Sandia Mtns. between Santa Fe and Albuquerque
  Summer Hours 10 - 6 or appointment
  Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and kids free
  www.wildwest.org/naturepark
• Shidoni Bronze Foundry
  Kids would love to play in the bronze sculpture garden surrounded by cottonwoods and apple trees. Molten bronze can be watched as it is poured. The Shidoni arts gallery may be of interest to kids of older ages.
  Tesuque
  5 miles north of Santa Fe
  Admission Free
  M-F noon to 1pm - self guided tours, Saturday 9 - 5
  505 988 8001
  www.shidoni.com