From left to right, top: San Francisco de Asís Church; a sign of the Enchanted Circle; San José de Gracia Church. Middle: Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Bottom: the state flag flying outside shops in Taos; religious mural in Chimayó.
THE ENCHANTED CIRCLE
| Distance: | 84 miles, 2.5 to 3 hours if you drive with minimal stops. Plan on a full day if you stop in each town and to take pictures. |
| Route: | From Taos Plaza, US 64 north to NM 522 north to Questa; NM 38 east to Red River, then continue on US 64 south to Eagle Nest and Angel Fire; US 64 west back to Taos. |
Most visitors to the Enchanted Circle will come from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and then go along the High Road or the Low Road. Here’s the route of the Enchanted Circle: From Taos, take NM 522 North to Questa. At Questa, catch NM 38 east to Red River. Then go from Red River east to Elizabethtown continuing on NM 38, south to Eagle Nest. From Eagle Nest, head south on US 64 to Angel Fire. From Angel Fire, stay on US 64, back to Taos. The other main entry into the Enchanted Circle takes place through Cimarron and Eagle Nest on the eastern end of the byway. If you enter the Enchanted Circle from the east, you will cut off on NM 58 west to US 64 west at Cimarron then on to Eagle Nest. The trick is to choose your route and time wisely. Remember to be prepared for changing weather, especially during monsoon season from mid-July through September.
The Enchanted Circle is a spectacular 84-mile loop drive through mountains, mesa, great rifts, valleys and national forest, sprawling ranches, a gold-mining ghost town, cold clear streams, and a large unusual national monument. This US Scenic Byway hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The landscapes are varied and dramatic, unique to New Mexico. The diversity and beauty, grandeur and simplicity, sweeping vistas of mountains and of valleys—all in a circle—are breathtaking. Rarely will you find such differing landscapes, cultures, towns and villages, and lay of the land in such a small area.
The Rio Grande Gorge charms and awes its seekers.
The genesis of your drive around the Enchanted Circle will be dominated by a rift, a river, a range; to the west lies a ragged gash of earth, the Rio Grande Gorge, which divides the ancient volcanic cones from the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Range to the east. The Enchanted Circle travels around New Mexico’s largest mountain, Wheeler Peak, part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range that spans from Southern Colorado to the southern parts of New Mexico. Steeped in history and raw beauty, this drive features expansive views, diverse landscapes, and frequent remnants of the Wild West.
This is a loop trip. You are driving in a circle. Easy as pie. Drive it, and you get a threefold reward: amazing scenery, a million things to do, and cool mountain villages. By cool, we mean the kind of cool a Popsicle provides in summer, and the type of cool that you wished you had when you watched Dean Martin and The Golddiggers on television. Each town has its own vibe, its own identity, its own charm.
This National Forest Scenic Byway circles Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico at 13,161 feet. Throughout the drive, you’ll see some of the oldest rocks in the Southwest—quartz and feldspar that date back two billion years. You can view ancient petroglyphs, golden eagles, snow-capped peaks, historic sites, and Indian pueblos. Watch for special Enchanted Circle markers to help guide your way.
Exploring the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is a perfect way to spend an adventurous weekend or a week or two. The byway is only about 84 miles, but there is so much to see that you will want to take your time to see it all. As you drive out of Taos on NM 522, take a detour to see the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, one of the highest bridges in America. Take a detour to the east so you can visit Arroyo Seco, a quaint artistic village on the road to the internationally flavored Taos Ski Valley.
As you continue north, you’ll pass scenic Arroyo Hondo. After San Cristobal, visit the ranch where famous writer D.H. Lawrence lived. To the east, you will see the towering Sangre de Cristo Range. Passing Questa, you will encounter truly dramatic landscapes with access to the Rio Grande. A steep road to the east takes you to the mountain hamlet of Red River, which offers a spectacular vista of aspen and spruce groves.
Continue along the Enchanted Circle from NM 38 to US 64 through Eagle Nest Lake State Park with a spectacular 2,400-acre lake that’s excellent for hiking, fishing, boating, and cross-country skiing. Watch for deer, elk, bear, and eagles. As you continue west, you will pass Angel Fire, another great family resort on the way back to Taos.
You can visit eight historical pueblos (Native American settlements) during your stay in northern New Mexico, the most famous of which is the Taos Pueblo. The nearby forested mountains abound in game: deer, elk, bear, and wild turkey. Seasonal trout fishing is outstanding in mountain lakes and streams and year-round in the Rio Grande. Try horseback riding through valleys surrounded by snow-capped peaks. Consider a raft trip down the Rio Grande River. Skiing and snowboarding may be enjoyed at several nearby resorts from Thanksgiving to Easter—Taos Ski Valley, Red River, Angel Fire, and Sipapu.
Opportunities for hiking and biking are plentiful on miles of developed trails in these areas offering dramatic vistas, wildlife viewing, solitude, and visits to prehistoric and historic cultural sites. There are hundreds of miles of trails, some maintained by volunteer groups. Opportunities also abound for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and four-wheel-drive (4WD) exploring. Many summer hiking trails and forest roads become cross-country ski and snowmobile trails in winter.
HISTORY
This was wild country fully tamed only 120 years ago. Let that sink in. New Mexico only became a state in 1912. This region is still one of the wildest and most remote in the Southwest.
The history of northern New Mexico can be explained in waves. One wave of people came after another: the Pueblo Indians followed by Spanish, Anglo, Mexican, traders, Eastern Americans, artists and painters and writers, hippies and counter-culturalists. And the latest wave? Tourists from around the world. The nineteenth-century commercial highway Santa Fe Trail ran through this area, connecting the civilized world with the Wild West. Kit Carson, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, Father Jose Martinez, and other frontier heroes lived here, fought here, for varying reasons. Outlaws and famous Western personalities were a part of the historic fabric too, including Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Billy the Kid. When horses and wagons were replaced by trains, the region continued to be a crossroads for trade and travelers.