Ok, so this post is way overdue, but here goes. My nomadic, traveling job recently took me to Santa Fe, New Mexico. For those who have never been, New Mexico is a very underrated state. While the neighbors, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah are getting all the attention, the so called “Land of Enchantment” remains relatively quiet and largely ignored. Much of my time there was spent avoiding the snow and winter temperatures, but I was able to spend the warmer weekends exploring the wealth of Native American ruins and astounding natural beauty.

My very first weekend I traveled a long three hours to see something that had absolutely nothing to do with Native Americans or natural beauty, however. No, I spent that day at the Very Large Array, one of the largest radio astronomical observatories in the world. It’s amazing to think of how much we’ve been able to learn about our universe because of this place. I geeked out pretty hard that day!

New Mexico’s own version of the Grand Canyon is the Rio Grande Gorge. There are tons of trails all along the gorge with breathtaking views. It’s also home to one of the most incredible sunsets I’ve ever witnessed.

I had no idea going to New Mexico that there were so many Native American ruins around, so many, in fact, that it was impossible for me to get to them all. If I’m ever able to make it back to the area, I’ll still have more than plenty to keep me busy. The sites I did make it to were really interesting and of course, surrounded by the amazing high desert terrain. First up was Pecos, the remains of an ancient pueblo with the beautiful Mission Church, built in 1619!

Many of the ruins throughout northern New Mexico are cliff dwellings. One of the most famous is Bandalier National Monument. After visiting the ruins, I hiked a couple of miles through the beautiful canyon to a great desert waterfall.

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Less famous perhaps, but not any less incredible is the Puye Cliff Dwellings. If you like climbing ladders up cliffs to explore ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs and walking around the top of a mesa surrounded by incredible views, then this is the place for you.

New Mexico also has a tremendous amount of crazy rock formations scattered around the state. One of the more interesting sites was Tent Rocks National Monument. Volcanic eruptions six to seven million years ago left these giant cone shaped formations. Hiking through the narrow slot canyon in and around these babies was very cool!

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By far the coolest part of New Mexico, though, is the Bisti Badlands. If you have to choose only one reason to go to New Mexico, it should be this. This place has the largest concentration of unbelievable geological craziness I’ve ever been to. It’s not for the faint of heart, though, either. Be prepared for lots of rough gravel roads, even rougher jeep trails, and make sure your GPS skills are sharp. I spent two full weekends hiking and exploring the area.

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I think my favorite area in the Bisti Badlands was probably the Valley of Dreams trail. There were three very distinct sections of formations that got progressively larger. A slip and a long slide in the mud made it a bit more memorable too.

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While the Valley of Dreams trail was my favorite hike, the King of Wings was definitely the headline rock formation in the area. Here’s where the GPS skills really came in. There’s no real trail out to it. I had to make a best guess on where to park, squeeze under a barbed wire fence, and wander off into the desert with nothing but some GPS coordinates to head towards. Along the way I had to zig and zag around hundreds of smaller, mushroom shaped rocks and a surprising amount of petrified tree stumps until finally the King of Wings came into view. It was definitely worth the effort!

I really hope to make it back to New Mexico sometime. There is still so much to see and do there. But for now, my time in the Land of Enchantment is over and I’m already well into my most recent work assignment in beautiful Pennsylvania. Stay tuned for tales from the Keystone State, coming soon…

See all my pictures from New Mexico right here