The Turquoise Trail: Albuquerque to Santa Fe via Sandia Crest

Route description

Start on Albuquerque’s west side at Petroglyph National Monument. Boca Negra Canyon has three short paved trails past hundreds of images on black basalt; it charges a small parking fee. Rinconada Canyon is a longer sandy walk. Old Town, with its plaza and San Felipe de Neri church, is on your way back across the Rio Grande.

Take I-40 east to exit 175 at Tijeras and turn north on NM-14, the Turquoise Trail. After 10 km, turn onto NM-536, the Sandia Crest Scenic Byway, which climbs 22 km through forest to the 3,255 m crest. The road is paved and fine for RVs, but the parking at the top is small. On clear days the view runs to Mount Taylor. There is a fee to park at the crest.

Back on NM-14, the road runs north through rolling hills to Golden and then Madrid, an old coal-mining town that nearly vanished and is now full of galleries. Parking along the main street is tight for big rigs, so look for the signed lots at either end of town. A few kilometers on, Cerrillos is a quiet village with dirt streets and a trading post.

Cerrillos Hills State Park is just north of the village on a dirt road, with easy trails past old turquoise and silver mine shafts. NM-14 then joins I-25 on the southern edge of Santa Fe, about 80 km from Tijeras in all. Stay at one of the RV parks on the south side and ride the bus into the historic center, where parking is limited.