Taos: A summertime retreat

We visited Taos, New Mexico for a refreshing and active getaway during Labor Day weekend. Taos is mostly known as a wintertime ski town, but it's a perfect getaway during the late summer.
I love it because of all the outdoors activities. Taos is close to the Sangre de Cristo mountains which are full of National Forest hiking trails, the Rio Grande river for rafting, and mountain streams and lakes for fly fishing.
There's also a large number of art galleries for the cultured traveler, as well as music and arts festivals. It's an interesting diverse community with outdoorsy-granola types, native americans, and artists. Just about every direction you can drive has a very scenic drive. You'll also love the New Mexican cuisine at many small resturaunts. During the day, it's in the 80's and dry, and at night it gets quite cool and the stars are plentiful.

Quick Tips:

There are many accommodation options in Taos, from budget motels like the Hampton Inn to beautiful Bed and Breakfasts like the historic and friendly Inn at La Loma Plaza, where we stayed. Staying at an historic B&B will give you a greater perspective of the history and culture of Taos.

Best Way To Get Around:

We rented a car in Albequerque and drove to Taos. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive north through the state capitol of Santa Fe. And it is a beautiful drive that takes you from the dry desert-like plains and peaks near Albuquerque to the southern Rocky Mountains at Taos.
Santa Fe is about 75 minutes away from ABQ, so it's a good place for a break. Car rental costs about 35-40 dollars per day at the Albuquerque airport.

Our stay at the historic Inn on La Loma Plaza was one of the highlights of our stay in Taos. Innkeepers Jerry and Peggy Davis have created an atmosphere that is both historic, comfortable, and friendly.

A cobblestoned walkway leads to this quiet place protected by the large trees in the yard and the thick adobe walls surrounding the inn, and it is only a few blocks from the Taos town plaza. We had stayed once during the winter, and our summer stay there was just as enjoyable with perfect weather in the form of warm days and cool, fall-like nights.

The unique southwestern atmosphere of the inn is highlighted by its Pueblo Revival Architecture and adobe walls that were constructed in the 1800's and the artwork inside the dining room. The front portal (see photo below) with the hanging dried chiles and old fountain lead us to our room.

This inn was highly recommended by several guidebooks, and it was easy to see why. Our room, the La Loma Studio, was decorated with rugs and artwork in Native American patterns with soft denim blues covering the sofa and bed and handcrafted furniture with tin trim. Most rooms have a fireplace that can be used in the winter, and the hot tub outside would also be inviting in colder weather! This room also had a kitchenette and small refrigerator for extended stays.

We had a delicious breakfast served in the spacious dining room (see photo below), with Eggs OLE! and the Frappe of the Day was Raspberry Banana. Having breakfast there with the view of the mountains after a refreshing night's sleep was a great start to a day of hiking and fishing.

I was able to find out a lot of information beforehand about this inn at their website: www.vacationtaos.com

If you are looking for simple and basic accommodations in Taos, I would recommend this Hampton Inn. Like all Motels, there is very little personality, but I found the rooms to be clean and comfortable with a nice television at this new-looking Hampton Inn. The free continental breakfast has cereal, muffins, coffee, and orange juice. There is a heated indoor pool at this hotel, and it seemed to be popular with the kids! At less than $75 per night, I consider it a very good value for a night's stay especially after a long day of exploring Northern New Mexico.

This is one the local hangouts, and a very colorful and noisy place for New Mexican food. It is also one of the few local places, except for fast food, that are open for dinner past 9 PM. It has a bizarre interior design with a fully colored fresco on the ceiling that depicts surreal religious themes and bizarre crucifixes are hung all around the place. The attractive young waitresses wear short skirts! And the food is simple and good.

This place is a Taos landmark- a delicious family resturaunt that I think about whenever someone mentions Taos. It has a bakery which sells cinnamon rolls the size of a catcher's mitt, and a full selection of American and New Mexican dishes. But it is their specialty, the Stuffed Sopapilla with Green Chile that I really get the cravings for. The New Mexican dish is really quite a unique meal- the imaginative merging of the internals of a beef burrito into a fluffy and delicate Sopapilla and topped with flavorful green chile sauce, cooled with Guacamole and Sour Cream. This place closes early, so be there for dinner before 8:00 PM.

The Cimarron River is one of the best trout streams in Northern New Mexico, and the whole 10 mile stretch from Eagle Nest to the town of Cimarron is very productive and there are many places to park along Route 64. I recommend parking and walking upstream to a good stretch of river that's less accessible. Much of this area is catch and release and fly fishing only. It is a beautiful place to fish, especially where the river cuts through the Palisades, a canyon with magnificent rock structures. I fished with a 8 foot 4 weight rod, which is all you really need for this small river. There are lots of trees along the banks, which made for challenging casting. The flies I used were a #18 Elk Hair Caddis and a #18 Parachute Adams. During the evening, I caught a brook trout during a brief hatch.