Visit Taos
Embracing past, present and future
Nestled below the mystical Sangre de Cristo Mountains and bounded by Taos Pueblo—embracing 1,000 years of Native American tradition—Taos, New Mexico, has long captivated travelers seeking adventure, culture and otherworldly beauty. Artists flocked here in the early 20th century and founded the Taos Society of Artists. The literary likes of D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley and Thomas Wolfe followed, inspired by the rich adobe architecture, expansive high-desert landscape and sacred, towering Taos Mountain.
Today, Taos’ popular ski resort, cultural and historical attractions, unique festivals and artwork ranging from traditional to quirky continue to mesmerize first-time visitors and lure many back again and again to partake in its unique, ever-evolving charms.
Taos visitors can savor the New Mexican wilderness on day- or overnight snowshoe excursions guided by naturalist Stuart Wilde. Photo courtesy of Taos Snowshoe Adventures.
Adventuring Around
Offering llama treks in summer, naturalist Stuart Wilde guides full- and half-day snowshoe adventures in New Mexico’s wilderness come winter. Options include overnight stays in decked-out yurts and full-moon tours; snowshoetaos.com.
Après ski takes on new meaning at the annual Taos Ski Valley Winter Wine Festival, January 30-February 2, 2020. Local restaurants and national wineries bring this multi-day food-and-wine extravaganza to the ski mountain and town. Events may include wine seminars, films, wine-themed dinners at top restaurants, reserve tastings and Sunday brunch; taosskivalley.com.
A community has sprung up around passive solar Earthship homes constructed from recycled materials, enabling inhabitants to live off-grid in the New Mexican desert. Photo courtesy of Earthship Biotecture Community.
The Earthship Visitor Center offers an up-close-and-personal look at life lived off-grid in the New Mexican desert. A community has sprung up around these innovative passive solar homes made from recycled materials including earth-packed tires. Self-guided tours feature displays, videos and slideshows; earthshipglobal.com.
Fans of Taos Moderns, pre- and post-war abstract art and current contemporaries relish the collection at Taos Moderns at 203 Fine Art, open daily by appointment. Photo courtesy of Visit Taos.
Savoring Art/History
Taos Moderns at 203 Fine Art: Aficionados of early Taos Moderns, pre- and post-war abstract art and current contemporaries will relish these collections. Open daily by appointment “for a personalized art experience”; 203fineart.com.
Completely remodeled in the 1920s, the stunning Pueblo Mission Revival Fechin House features renowned Russian artist Nicolai Fechin’s sculptures, furniture and art collections. Photo by Morgan Timms.
Taos Art Museum at Fechin House: Completely remodeled by renowned Russian artist Nicolai Fechin in the late 1920s, this stunning Pueblo Mission Revival home with two-foot-thick walls and elaborate wooden carvings houses Fechin’s sculptures, furniture and art collections. Through March 2020, view work by modernist painter and photographer Marjorie Eaton characterizing Native American life in the early 20th century; taosartmuseum.org.
Collections at the historic Harwood Museum feature Hispanic and Native American works along with visual arts from the Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns and contemporary pieces. Photo courtesy of Hardwood Museum of Art.
Harwood Museum: Collections include Hispanic and Native American works, visual arts from the Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns and contemporary pieces. Currently showing is “Dean Pulver: Elemental Resonance.” The Taos sculptor and woodworker harnesses elemental forms referencing “man and nature, engineering and design, creation and invention, time and transition, growth and change”; harwoodmuseum.org.
THE SCOOP
GETTING THERE
Drive from Denver in less than five hours via I-25 south to Colorado Springs and on to Walsenburg; Highway 160 to Fort Garland; Highway 159 and Highway 522 to Taos. Multiple carriers fly from Denver and other locations to Taos Regional Airport (eight miles outside town). Airport transportation options include rental cars, taxi, Uber and shuttle service to ski area and town.
EAT
The Love Apple serves New Mexico cuisine in a unique setting. Photo courtesy of Visit Taos.
The Love Apple Serving up organic New Mexican cuisine in a candle-lit chapel built in the early 1800s. Open only for dinner, cash only.
The “boutique tasting room” at The Lounge by Rolling Still Distillery stirs up carefully crafted cocktails brimming with regional ingredients like ponderosa and juniper. Photo by Amanda Powell.
The Lounge by Rolling Still Distillery This “boutique tasting room” in a historic building specializes in carefully crafted cocktails reflecting regional ingredients like ponderosa and juniper. Small plates feature locally sourced ingredients.
Photo courtesy of Visit Taos.
SHOP
Taos Plaza Anchored in the historic district amid galleries featuring Taos artists, shops include Native American goods and Taos-made products from candles and food to clothing, jewelry, pottery and smudge sticks.
Kit Carson Road Art lovers will enjoy browsing some of Taos’ finest galleries, art walks, exhibitions and openings.
John Dunn Shops Shops, galleries and eateries featuring handmade crafts, contemporary and South- western fashion, books, kitchenware and leatherworks.
As seen in the January/February 2020 issue
