Albuquerque Trip Overview
The historic Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, is synonymous with Native American spirituality, Spanish explorers, adventurous mining, and brave pioneers.
The blue-green turquoise, nationally recognized as a precious stone, was first mined by the early Pueblo people as early as 900 A.D. From the 1800s onward Spanish explorers, missionaries and prospectors followed the trail of the native American Indians already here. Today the National Scenic Byway is home to many modern day settlers and host to tens of thousands of visitors a year!
The drive is approximately 50 miles along Highway 14. Enjoy breathtaking scenery while traveling back into history through the mining towns of Golden, Madrid, and Cerrillos. These small towns are now alive with art, crafts, museums and restaurants.
Drive, gawk, walk, and eat on this trail of history!
Additional Info
Duration: 6 hours 30 minutes
Starts: Albuquerque, United States
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Albuquerque Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
The historic Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, is synonymous with Native American spirituality, Spanish explorers, adventurous mining, and brave pioneers.
The blue-green turquoise, nationally recognized as a precious stone, was first mined by the early Pueblo people as early as 900 A.D. From the 1800s onward Spanish explorers, missionaries and prospectors followed the trail of the native American Indians already here. Today the National Scenic Byway is home to many modern day settlers and host to tens of thousands of visitors a year!
The drive is approximately 50 miles along Highway 14. Enjoy breathtaking scenery while traveling back into history through the mining towns of Golden, Madrid, and Cerrillos. These small towns are now alive with art, crafts, museums and restaurants.
Drive, gawk, walk, and eat on this trail of history!
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Golden, NM 87047, USA
From Albuquerque we will drive through the back of Cibola National Forest on the ‘Turquoise trail’ to the old mining town of Golden (Gold rush in 1825) location of various ruins of old mines and dwellings. Stop to photograph the beautiful ‘San Francisco Church’ dating back to 1830.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Madrid Old Coal Town Museum, 2846 State Highway 14 N, Madrid, NM 87010-9746
The town of Madrid was a wild-west, coal mining town from the 1800s and is home to the Madrid Coal Mine and the Old Coal Town Museum Now it is full of art galleries and restaurants where we can grab a bite at one of the eateries of your choice.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Cerrillos, Cerrillos, New Mexico
After lunch we will head north to the small town of Cerrillos (small hills) best known for the Turquoise mined back as far as 900AD. Here you can visit the Casa Grande Trading Post and photograph the buildings of a typical old west town.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: New Mexico, New Mexico
The Garden of the Gods is a landscape hill with the most amazing formations on the road from Cerillos to Santa Fe. Here upturned fins of the Dakota Sandstone. Thes formation date from 65 million years ago. Here we will stop for photos and to stretch before heading home.
Duration: 15 minutes
