From Las Vegas
2. To Santa Fe via I-25 Heading South, from Las Vegas
Established in 1835 by settlers with a land grant from Mexico, Las Vegas was a major stop on the Santa Fe Trail. When the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1879, Las Vegas became one of the largest cities in the Southwest and many of the Victorian homes and other buildings constructed during this Wild West era still stand. (More than 900 buildings in Las Vegas are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Plaza Hotel, built in 1882 and still in operation, and the now-closed La Castaneda Hotel, a mission-style Harvey House built in 1898.) Situated on the edge of the eastern plains at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Las Vegas was a boisterous and popular town during the railroad era, visited by Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and Tom Mix and other movie stars of the silent screen era.
You can't miss Hermit's Peak, a dark, craggy mountain towering over Las Vegas in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that takes its name from a solitary Italian man possessing legendary healing powers who lived in a cave on the mountain during the 1860s.
Today, with a population of nearly 15,000, Las Vegas offers unique galleries, antique stores and other shops. It's close to two National Forests and Storrie Lake, a great spot for fishing and boating. It's also home to the famous Montezuma Castle, originally built circa 1882 as the Montezuma Hotel and now part of the campus of the United World College of the American West. During its heyday, the Montezuma Hotel drew distinguished visitors including Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.
The Pecos National Historical Park, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, preserves some 12,000 years of history, including the ruins of Pecos Pueblo, where 2,000 people lived in four- and five-story stone homes sealed with mud when the Spanish first made contact in 1540. The park also contains the ruins of a 17th-century Franciscan mission and sites connected to the Old Santa Fe Trail and Civil War battles.
The nearby village of Pecos, a former logging town nestled in the Pecos River valley 16 miles southeast of Santa Fe, is the gateway to the vast and beautiful Pecos Wilderness Area. Occupying 223,000 acres, this high country wilderness is a hiker's paradise.
Historic Route 66 ran roughly parallel to I-25 from just south of Las Vegas to Santa Fe between 1926 and 1937, when a realignment of the famed "Mother Road" redirected it south of here. The road was officially decommissioned in 1985, but portions of it remain intact. A recent resurgence of nostalgia for Route 66 has brought the historic road back into the limelight, as drivers seek to retrace its original path.
At 7,000 feet, Santa Fe is the oldest and highest capital city in the country. Founded between 1609 and 1610 by the Spanish conquistador Don Pedro de Peralta, the city has been the capital of the Spanish Kingdom of New Mexico, serving as Spain's northernmost territory in the New World; the Mexican province of Nuevo Mejico; the American territory of New Mexico (which contained what is today Arizona and New Mexico); and the state of New Mexico, which officially achieved statehood in 1912.
During the 19th century, Santa Fe was the destination for merchants, military men, pioneers and other travelers along the Santa Fe Trail.
Today, Santa Fe is a flourishing multicultural city of about 70,000 people with a vibrant art and cultural scene, a world-class reputation for unique dining and shopping, and enduring connections to its fascinating past. It is the fourth largest city in the state, behind Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Rio Rancho. Nestled in the dramatic Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the city is famous for its stunning landscape, majestic sunsets and close proximity to excellent hiking, biking, skiing and other outdoor activities.
Established in 1835 by settlers with a land grant from Mexico, Las Vegas was a major stop on the Santa Fe Trail. When the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1879, Las Vegas became one of the largest cities in the Southwest and many of the Victorian homes and other buildings constructed during this Wild West era still stand. (More than 900 buildings in Las Vegas are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Plaza Hotel, built in 1882 and still in operation, and the now-closed La Castaneda Hotel, a mission-style Harvey House built in 1898.) Situated on the edge of the eastern plains at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Las Vegas was a boisterous and popular town during the railroad era, visited by Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and Tom Mix and other movie stars of the silent screen era.
You can't miss Hermit's Peak, a dark, craggy mountain towering over Las Vegas in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that takes its name from a solitary Italian man possessing legendary healing powers who lived in a cave on the mountain during the 1860s.
Today, with a population of nearly 15,000, Las Vegas offers unique galleries, antique stores and other shops. It's close to two National Forests and Storrie Lake, a great spot for fishing and boating. It's also home to the famous Montezuma Castle, originally built circa 1882 as the Montezuma Hotel and now part of the campus of the United World College of the American West. During its heyday, the Montezuma Hotel drew distinguished visitors including Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.
The Pecos National Historical Park, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, preserves some 12,000 years of history, including the ruins of Pecos Pueblo, where 2,000 people lived in four- and five-story stone homes sealed with mud when the Spanish first made contact in 1540. The park also contains the ruins of a 17th-century Franciscan mission and sites connected to the Old Santa Fe Trail and Civil War battles.
The nearby village of Pecos, a former logging town nestled in the Pecos River valley 16 miles southeast of Santa Fe, is the gateway to the vast and beautiful Pecos Wilderness Area. Occupying 223,000 acres, this high country wilderness is a hiker's paradise.
Historic Route 66 ran roughly parallel to I-25 from just south of Las Vegas to Santa Fe between 1926 and 1937, when a realignment of the famed "Mother Road" redirected it south of here. The road was officially decommissioned in 1985, but portions of it remain intact. A recent resurgence of nostalgia for Route 66 has brought the historic road back into the limelight, as drivers seek to retrace its original path.
At 7,000 feet, Santa Fe is the oldest and highest capital city in the country. Founded between 1609 and 1610 by the Spanish conquistador Don Pedro de Peralta, the city has been the capital of the Spanish Kingdom of New Mexico, serving as Spain's northernmost territory in the New World; the Mexican province of Nuevo Mejico; the American territory of New Mexico (which contained what is today Arizona and New Mexico); and the state of New Mexico, which officially achieved statehood in 1912.
During the 19th century, Santa Fe was the destination for merchants, military men, pioneers and other travelers along the Santa Fe Trail.
Today, Santa Fe is a flourishing multicultural city of about 70,000 people with a vibrant art and cultural scene, a world-class reputation for unique dining and shopping, and enduring connections to its fascinating past. It is the fourth largest city in the state, behind Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Rio Rancho. Nestled in the dramatic Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the city is famous for its stunning landscape, majestic sunsets and close proximity to excellent hiking, biking, skiing and other outdoor activities.