Jemez Mountain Trail and Los Alamos

A round trip of about 160 miles

Head north on US 84/285 to Pojoaque, then west on NM 502. Visit San Ildefenso Pueblo, where potter Maria Martinez lived and worked, and Santa Clara Pueblo, across the Rio Grande on NM 30. Both pueblos continue to produce excellent pottery. Continue on NM 502 to NM 4 and drive to Tsankawi Mesa and Frijoles Canyon, two separate locations of Bandelier National Monument, for self-guided tours of remarkable ruins once occupied by ancestors of the Pueblo Indians.

Take NM 4 to Los Alamos and visit the Bradbury Science Museum to learn about the making of the atomic bomb and current research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Continue on NM 4 to the Valle Grande, one of the world's largest calderas formed when a volcano crater collapsed one million years ago. Next you'll arrive at the town of Jemez Springs, where you can soak in public tubs at a bathhouse built during the Victorian era. NM 4 continues past the Jemez State Monument, which displays ancient Indian ruins, and the Jemez Pueblo's Walatowa Visitor Center. Follow NM 4 to NM 44 and drive south to Bernalillo, stopping at the Coronado State Monument to see where Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his soldiers set up winter camp in 1540 during their search for the fabled Cities of Gold. Return to Santa Fe via I-25 north.