Scenic Drives | Jemez Mountain Trail
4-6 hours round trip from either Albuquerque or Santa Fe
This drive takes you along the west side of the Jemez Mountains, through the Jemez Indian Pueblo and ruins and into the splendid Valle Caldera and Bandelier National Monument. Along the way you pass through Jemez Springs, home to many natuarl hot springs (fee-based). Los Alamos and the National Laboratory are located in the north end of this drive so stop in to the Bradbury Science Museum if you have any time left. Additionally, Bandelier National Monument could easily take a whole day to explore or just a few hours to see some of its main ruins.
Take NM 502 from US 84/285 north of Santa Fe towards Los Alamos. Take NM 501 if you plan to drive into the town of Los Alamos or NM 4 to procede directly to the main trail. NM 4 will take you through Bandelier National Monument areas, the Valle Caldera Wilderness Trust, Jemez Springs and Jemez Pueblo. South of Jemez Pueblo turn left (south) onto US 550 to Bernalillo. In Bernalillo take I-25 back to Santa Fe.
Highlights
Los Alamos / Bradbury Science Museum
Drive through the town, site of the original Manhattan Project laboratory responsible for the world's first atomic bomb. Stop at the Bradbury Science Museum for a complete history of the area and life-sized mock-ups of the original gadges. The museum also features displays on current non-military research carried out at the Laboratory as well.
Bandelier National Monument
See ancient pueblo indian ruins within a short walking distance to the parking lot and visitor center. A few long-distant hiking trails take you deep into scenic pine-forested canyons.
Valle Caldera National Preserve
89,000 acres located inside a collapsed volcanic crater. The area was a private ranch until 2000, when an act of Congress created the Preserve and the Valle Caldera National Trust to oversee its use. Many ancient volcanic domes can be seen, notably Redondo Peak (11,254 feet). The area is home to elk, wild turkey and some of the best fishing rivers in the state. Hunting and fishing activity is fairly limited via a lottery system a few times per year. The drive around the Caldera along the Jemez Mountain trail is spectacular.
Fenton Lake
A popular recreational and fishing lake.
Soda Dam
Soda Dam is a naturally occuring dam along the Jemez River formed when water deep in the ground near the Valles Caldera is heated by magma and turned into underground steam. The steam cools as it is released at a fault at the dam site, bringing with it a slew of dissolved minerals, chiefly calcium carbonate (thus the name "soda"). People can swim in this area.
Jemez State Monument
A site of ancient Towa pueblo (the Giusewa), the ancestors to the Jemez Pueblo people. The ruins mixed with 17th century Spanish mission dwellings. The site is a perfect example of what transpired in cultures throughout the southwest when the Spanish arrived. Exhibits at the museum present the areas history from the point of view of the Jemez people.
Jemez Springs
A small B&B community with quite a few restaurants that is a perfect half-way stopping point along the Jemez Mountain Trail. There are quite a few natural hot springs (developed sites), camping grounds, hiking and horseback riding trails.
Ponderosa Vineyard and Winery
A riesling vineyard and winery located among the ponderosa pine trees at 5800′ above sea level. Turn onto NM 290 just before you reach Jemez Pueblo along NM 4 and follow for ~3 miles.
Jemez Pueblo
The modern day center of the Towa-speaking people of the region. A forced relocation of the Pecos Pueblo people to this region in 1838 (under Spanish rule) accounts for the Pecos peoples' recognition of Jemez as their center of government as well. Stop in and visit the Walatowa Visitors Center or picnic in front of the spectacular red rock formations across the road.
Coronado State Monument
This is the site of ancient Kuaua pueblo ruins. The modern site is the result of WPA excavations in the 1930s. The site was also the location where Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his soldiers and a large contingent of friendly pueblo indians entered the Rio Grande Valley region during his search for the fabled seven cities of gold in the 1540s.
