diphthong

howdy! looking to hit the santa fe and taos areas first week of september. would ideally like to camp one or two nights and look to do 3-4 shortish, < 40 mile scenic (can be any mix of/or exclusively mtns, rollers, flats) road rides. wondering if the good ladies and gents of the touring forum have any recommendations, must-do’s/must don’ts. ideally, i’d post this in the southwest regional forum but it is d-e-d dead. thanks in advance for your assistance.

Steve B.

In SF, closest campground to town is up the ski basin road at Hyde Memorial State Park. It’s also a good hill climb, 28 miles RT from town, +3500 ft. Also Big Tesuque on the ski road, that’s a Nat’L Forest site. Santa Fe National Forest campgrounds in the area east of SF are up Rt 63 north of Pecos, a ways out of town, Jacks Creek and Cowles comes to mind. Some others on the Rt 63 road, which is a good out and back road route.

Camping up in Taos would be in the Carson Natl Forest. Easiest way to find them is to use Google Maps, zoom in to any area and search for campgrounds. There’s a lot. Also some sites on the Rio Grande south of Taos in Pilar.

For any camping, best to call the particular ranger stations and ask if any locations close after Labor Day.

Somewhat less road options in Taos, mostly as it’s Rt 64 east or west, 68 south whose road riding sucks as its super busy, Rt 38 up to Red River, or Rt 518 southeast, which is a good route.

SF has a much more extensive selection of roads, all kinds of options, though west and south are better than north. Maybe look on RWGPS or Strava for heat map selections to get loop ideas.

And when you order your tacos/burrito/enchiladas, order red or green, or “Christmas”, which is both. You will not be disappointed. Also order “sopapillas”, the puffy dough pastry you eat with the meal, covered in honey. It breaks the heat of the chile. Best Mexican style cooking on the planet. Also go watch a few sunsets.

diphthong

looks like all the campgrounds in carson natl forest are closed on the tuesday after labor day for the season. the ones in santa fe natl forest and some nearby state parks like hyde are open tho.
could always camp outside of the campgrounds in carson nf if necessary.

yeah, those sopapillas are diabolical. dunno how they haven't conquered the entire country by now.

looking forward to the mexican food as i'm not exactly underwhelmed or bored with it here in san diego/socal eating it 3x a week but my palate seems to prefer/really groove to the nm spice profile/style.