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Taos

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Overview

A magical spot even by the standards of this Land of Enchantment, Taos remains forever under the spell of the powerful landscape that surrounds it: 12,300ft snowcapped peaks rise behind town, while a sage-speckled plateau unrolls to the west before plunging 800ft straight down into the Rio Grande Gorge. The sky can be a searing sapphire blue or an ominous parade of rumbling thunderheads so big they dwarf the mountains. And then there are the sunsets…

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Millicent Rogers Museum

    Millicent Rogers Museum

    Taos

    Rooted in the private collection of model and oil heiress Millicent Rogers, who moved to Taos in 1947, this superb museum, 4 miles northwest of the Plaza,…

  • The ranch and memorial containing the ashes of the late novelist D.H. Lawrence, known for writing Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) and The Rainbow (1915), is located 20 miles north of Taos on a mountain slope. Fans all over the world visit the remote location to pay respects to one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. (Photo by Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images) DH Lawrence Ranch & Memorial

    DH Lawrence Ranch & Memorial

    Taos

    In 1924, Mabel Dodge Luhan gave DH Lawrence's wife, Frieda, this 160-acre ranch, now administered by the University of New Mexico, where the Lawrence…

  • TAOS, NEW MEXICO-AUGUST 13: Building materials sit outside an earthship being built in Taos on August 13, 2014. Earthships are environmentally friendly homes made of recycled materials. 210755425 unusual, usa, bottles, green, abode, earth, community, new, recycling, utilization, recycle, ecology, tires, living, nm, adobe, building, cistern, artsy, energy, solar, efficient, architecture, mexico, home, sustainable, house, art, space, environment, structure, innovative, cutting edge, greater world earthship community, earthship, biotecture, unusual, america, usa, bottles, green, abode, earth, community, new, recycling, utilization, recycle, ecology, tires, living, nm, adobe, building, cistern, artsy, energy, solar, efficient, architecture, mexico, home, sustainable, house, art, space, environment, structure, innovative, cutting edge, greater world earthship community, earthship, biotecture

    Earthships

    Taos

    Numbering 70 Earthships, with capacity for 60 more, Taos’ pioneering community was the brainchild of architect Michael Reynolds. Built with recycled…

  • Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

    Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

    Taos

    Constructed in 1965, this vertigo-inducing steel bridge carries Hwy 64 across the Rio Grande about 12 miles northwest of Taos. It’s the seventh-highest…

  • Kit Carson Home & Museum

    Kit Carson Home & Museum

    Taos

    A short walk east of the Plaza, the little-changed former home of Kit Carson (1809–68) – perhaps the Southwest's most famous mountain man, guide, trapper,…

  • Blumenschein Home & Museum

    Blumenschein Home & Museum

    Taos

    Wonderfully preserved adobe residence, dating originally from 1797, which provides a vivid glimpse of life in Taos’ artistic community during the 1920s…

  • Martínez Hacienda

    Martínez Hacienda

    Taos

    Set amid the fields 2 miles southwest of the Plaza, this fortified adobe homestead was built in 1804. It served as a trading post, first for merchants…

  • Harwood Museum of Art

    Harwood Museum of Art

    Taos

    Attractively displayed in a gorgeous and very spacious mid-19th-century adobe compound, the paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photographs here…

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