At 7,000 feet Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the United States and due to its high-altitude location at the tail-end of the Rocky Mountains, the City Different basks in 320 days of sunshine, vivid blue skies and some of the purest air in the country. Surrounded by 1.5 million acres of national forest and other public lands, locals and visitors alike have a lifetime of exploration at their doorsteps.

 

One breath-taking, nearby short hike is within Bandelier National Monument, which is about a 45-minute drive from downtown Santa Fe.  The two-mile loop trail to the Tsankawi Ruins is a foot-carved pathway that takes you atop a mesa and through the largely unexcavated village that is the ancestral home to the Tewa-speaking Pueblo people, descendants of the Chaco Canyon Anasazi.

 

Besides affording sweeping views of the Rio Grande Valley, Jemez Mountains, and the Sangre de Cristos, the walk also gives you an opportunity to explore small caves, scramble up ladders, and generally imagine what life atop the mesa must have been like during the 16th century. These are some of the best Pueblo ruins around, so don’t miss them if you want to know for about the area’s history.

 

City Different Realty serves Los Alamos and White Rock also and if you come to the Santa Fe area, please drop us a line or stop by the office.  We would love to go to work for you!

 

Click here to go to the Bandelier National Monument website.

 

 Photograph: Tsankawi petroglyphs, Wikipedia