Santa Fe Road Trip – The Turquoise Trail

Last Updated on September 12, 2023 by

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Sometimes referred to as a back road between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway is approximately 65 miles of the Old West. It is named for the rich turquoise deposits found along the northern edge of the route, closer to Santa Fe. Historical evidence suggests turquoise was first mined by the Pueblo people as early as 900 A.D.
For several hundred years the trail was the domain of Native Americans, followed by Spanish Settlers. The late 1800’s brought a flood of miners looking for valuable minerals, founding mining towns such as Golden, Madrid, and Cerrillos along the way. Unfortunately, the mining boom did not last, leaving these towns to decline just as rapidly as they had formed.
Today has seen a revitalization of sorts and you will see movie studios, art galleries, museums, and restaurants sprinkled throughout the towns along the route.
For my money, Santa Fe to Albuquerque is the ‘right’ way to do this trail. The north to south route starts gradually climbing through hills and valleys, through Cibolla National Forest and eventually takes you to the breathtaking views of Sandia Crest.

Los Cerillos

From downtown Santa Fe, the trail begins as Cerillos Road until it crosses I25 and then it becomes (or is only identified as) NM14. Within a mile and a half of crossing I25, you will see Santa Fe studios off to your left. Public tours are not available but it is of note as the location of the Alec Baldwin on-set shooting.
Just 12 miles south you will come into Los Cerillos. It is a very small town, but it hosts some very large art studios to include the:
Alan Houser Sculpture Garden – this gallery sits on 50 acres just north of downtown and has 70 large scale works in the Sculpture Garden in addition to hundreds of smaller works and paintings in the studio
Encaustic Museum – the museum holds over 450 pieces of art to include 124 encaustic works. Encaustic art is also known as hot wax painting and has been in existence for thousands of years.
OrigamiInTheGarden – the Kevin Box studio is located on 35 acres with large scale displays of origami inspired art.
Hat Ranch Gallery – a family owned multi-generational family of artists with a beautiful gallery and offering workshops for block printing and dreamcatcher weaving

Madrid

Continue another 4 miles south and you will enter Madrid. Unlike its Spanish namesake, this town is pronounced Mad-Rid. This is a quirky little town that is barely even on the map. Really it’s more of a hippie commune that managed to have enough talented stoners to turn it into a reasonably thriving artists community.
We stopped off at Mine Shaft Tavern and Cantina and ordered a few apps, the brisket sandwich and one of the pizzas and all were very good. However, the Black Angus Mad Chile Burger is otherworldly. No matter how many people in your party, at least one person must get this burger. Angus beef, hatch chile, aged cheddar, spicy mayo – burger perfection.
For fans of the TV show Longmire, this is the inspiration for Lou Diamond Phillips’ bar the Red Pony. It has all of the requisite charm of a gold rush saloon complete with about $2500 worth of dollar bills stapled to the rafters from admiring patrons. It also happens to be a museum, brewery, and gift shop.
The burger also came with a not half bad guitarist belting out perhaps the most eclectic selection of songs you will ever want to hear. I suspect prodding from the table closest to him and a heaping helping of free tequila from said table may have had something to do with the musical choices.

For fans of the 2007 movie, Wild Hogs, Maggie’s Diner is also in Madrid. It is a gift shop now, and no longer a diner, but worth a stop in if you are shopping for New Mexico inspired gifts.

You wouldn’t necessarily come to Madrid as a a destination, but if you happen to be cruising along from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, it’s worth the pit stop for some good food, a little bit of history, and some quality hippie art.

Golden

It is another 15 miles before you hit Golden. Golden General Merchandise Store, now known as Henderson General Store, is the only operational store in the entire town. The ruins of the San Francisco Catholic church built around 1830 provides a decent photo op, but otherwise this ghost town has basically returned to nature.

San Antonito

Another 10 miles or so and you will reach San Antonito with a decision to make. You can continue south to Tijeras, or turn onto NM536 towards Sandia Crest. Depending on how much time you have and the time of year, we would recommend heading to Tijeras, and then heading back to Sandia Crest to ultimately return to Santa Fe. However, weather conditions (i.e. fire or snow) may close the road at Sandia preventing you from continuing on. Today we headed towards Tijeras.

Edgewood

(Edgewood is definitely not on the Turquoise Trail)

Our day started with a drive down the Turquoise Trail, intent on seeing a few of the ghost towns and coming home over Sandia Crest. We started relatively early, armed with some lovely flat breads we purchased yesterday at the farmers market and our morning tea with us. It was a perfect day to be outside watching events – clear blue skies, no wind. Right about San Antonito, we started seeing signs for Celtic Games and decided to alter our plans for the day.
We didn’t realize when we arrived that the ‘masters’ competitive games were yesterday (Saturday) and the games today were with all the participants that didn’t qualify for the ‘masters’ games. Still… we had fun. Probably because we don’t know that much about the games, but there you have it. Also, I do love a man in a skirt. Just not this man.
(Side note – My mum’s been working on her mom’s genealogy and discovered that we have a Mahoney descendent in our line, too. Double Irishmen for the kids.)
The games we saw consisted of the the ladies caber toss, the sheaf toss – men and women’s, the men’s stone put, the men’s heavy toss, weight for height, and we ended our day here with the tug of war. I’ve since learned a lot about the games, so you guessed it, here comes the next history lesson. To be fair, all you really need to know is every one of the games invented by Celts looks like it involved a few pints, a testosterone fueled challenge, and some spare time on their hands. There is no way sober, gainfully employed, dudes invent these games. That said – the games are brilliant.

Caber Toss – A long log (of varying height and weight depending on skill level) is handed to the competitor in an upright position. The competitor has to walk his hands down the caber keeping them clasped, squeeze the caber and pop it up into their hands. Once the caber is off the ground, it’s in play. The athlete gets into position with the caber leaning on his neck and shoulder and begins moving forward. The athlete takes a minimum of 3 steps forward to determine line of travel, stops, plants his feet, squats and hoists the caber upward to turn the tip of the caber end over end with the heavy/larger end striking the ground first. The smaller end that was originally held by the athlete then hits the ground in the 12 o’clock position measured relative to the direction of the run. If successful, the athlete is said to have turned the caber. Competitors are judged on how closely their throws approximate the ideal 12 o’clock toss on an imaginary clock. The precursor to the home run bat flip.

Stone Put – or “putting the heavy stone” – This event is similar to the modern-day shot put as seen in the Olympic Games. Instead of a steel shot, a large stone of variable weight is used. There are also some differences from the Olympic shot put in allowable techniques. There are two versions of the stone toss events, differing in allowable technique. The “Braemar Stone” uses a 20–26 lb stone for men and a 13–18 lb for women. It does not allow any run up to the toe board or “trig” to deliver the stone, i.e., it is a standing put. In the “Open Stone” using a 16–22 lb stone for men or a 8–12 lb for women, the thrower is allowed to use any throwing style so long as the stone is put (thrown) with one hand with the stone resting cradled in the neck until the moment of release.

Heavy Toss – also known as ‘the weight for distance event’. There are two separate events here also. One uses a light weight 28 lb for men and 14 lb for women (Light you say?!) The other is a heavy weight which is 56 lb for men, 42 lb for masters men, and 28 lb for women. The weights are made of metal and have a handle attached either directly or by means of a chain. The implement is thrown using one hand only, but otherwise the athlete can use any technique. Usually a spinning technique is employed. The longest throw wins. Spectators remain dangerously close to the participants at this event. Notice the head of the woman in the first picture below. I can’t imagine getting hit in the shin by a 56 lb. rock feels good, but who am I to judge?

Sheaf Toss – A bundle of straw (the sheaf) weighing 20 pounds for men and 10 pounds for women is wrapped in a burlap bag and tossed vertically with a pitchfork over a raised bar much like that used in pole vaulting. Each athlete is allowed three attempts at each height. Successful clearance of the height allows the athlete to advance into the next round at a greater height. The competition is determined by the highest successful toss with fewest misses being used to break tie scores. There is significant debate among athletes as to whether the sheaf toss is in fact an authentic Highland event. Which is a shame, because it was the second most entertaining event of the group for me.

Far and away my favorite event to watch of the day sadly comes with no pictures. It involves throwing a 56lb hunk of iron over your head, one handed. Much like the Sheaf Toss, the bar is raised each time until someone’s skull is crushed. The event may have been more competitive at the Masters event, but these guys largely just wound up, let it fly, and then quickly dove for cover to avoid being hit by the weight on its way down. Friendly violent fun. Go Celts, Go!

Some other fun facts we learned and things we saw. Only Celtic dogs that have been registered with the festival prior to the festival dates are allowed in. What defines a Celtic dog?, you may ask. There are 43 different breeds in 5 different categories according to their countries. Click on the link above to learn more. We did see some setters, one Irish Wolf Hound (he was a big hit) and some corgis.

One Scottish man decided to wear his dress kilt in celebration since there were no games last year. Quite the stately gentleman. There was a double amputee, veteran who was doing chainsaw art with the most beautiful boxelder which has a red center. I did stop one woman with the best look to ask if I could take her picture. We learned she was one of the ‘masters’ women from the day before.

They also brought out the marching band with bagpipes at noon. And, of course, there was live music and local food, beer and whiskey. Such fun!

Tijeras

A piece of lost Americana, there is a stretch of Rte. 66 just south of Tijeras that used cleverly spaced rumble strips to play ‘America the Beautiful’ if you drove the speed limit. Sadly, it has been reported as paved over in 2023.
For those who don’t speak Spanish, Tijeras means scissors in English and gets its name from the two canyons intersecting here.
Aside from simply wanting to drive the Turquoise Trail in its entirety, the principle reason to visit Tijeras is the Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site.

Sandia Crest

Whether you visited Tijeras or not, or made a detour to Edgewood, turn back onto NM536 and head towards Sandia Crest. Typically, mountain tops are referred to as peaks, however, Sandia Crest gets its name because there is no summit, rather the high point is a long ridge at 10,678 feet in elevation. Before you get to the Crest, take some time to stop at the Tinkertown Museum. It is an incredible collection of eccentric Americana along with the works of museum founder and artist Ross Ward.
Continuing on from the museum, turn left at he only intersection to continue on N536 (Sandia Peak Scenic Highway) until you reach the Crest . From here there are several hiking trails from very short and flat to long and arduous. You can also hike about a mile and a half from the Ellis Trailhead to the Sandia Peak Tramway and the Ten3 Restaurant for lunch with a spectacular view.

Return to Santa Fe

For your return to Santa Fe, head back down NM536 and turn north onto NM165. Although we did not make the stop, about five miles down the road is the Sandia Man Cave. It is a half mile of concrete stairway followed by a steel stairwell up the steep cliff walls of Las Huertas Canyon. The cave was discovered in 1936 by a University of New Mexico anthropology student and excavated from 1937-1941. Cave contents included stone arrow and lance points, basket scraps, bits of woven yucca moccasins, and skeletal remains of a mastodon. From there it is straight shot back to Santa Fe.

If you have any energy left, you might want to consider a stop at the Coronado Historic Site, home of the Kuaua Pueblo in Bernalillo. It is less than ten minutes down the road once you cross over I25 on US550 (which turns into NM165 on the other side of I25). The historic site was established in the 1930’s with no direct evidence Coronado had ever actually visited. Rather, the site served as an interpretive center to describe the conflicts between the Europeans and the Pueblo people.

However, a recent archaeological survey conducted in 2020 offered definitive evidence of Coronado’s presence with the discovery of crossbow points, chain mail, and other items attributed to the Spanish.

What is more remarkable about this site are the preserved murals dating to the pre-Columbian era. There are fourteen panels on display in a reconstructed kiva. Access is available by guided tours daily at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 2:30 PM and last approximately 45 minutes depending on docent availability. No photos were allowed, so you’ll just have to rely on us to convince you it is worth the trip.