Madrid is one of the few towns in the Southwest where most of the galleries are still artist-owned. Park at any of the galleries, and join the procession. The small but ornate San Francisco Catholic Church, built in 1830, is still in use.Īpproaching Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid), a sign warns “Congestion Ahead.” On weekends, pedestrians turn the village into one extended shopping mall as they crisscross the highway between galleries and shops. The booming town supported saloons, businesses, a mercantile store, a school and a stock exchange. See the Nature Tour for more activities in the Sandia Mountains.īack on NM 14, don’t blink twice, or you’ll miss the ghost town of Golden, site of the first gold rush west of the Mississippi, in 1825. Trails lead along the rim from the Crest House Gift Shop and Restaurant, which serves delicious green-chile cheeseburgers and chicken quesadillas. Tinkertown has been featured on Good Morning America and visited by the Dalai Lama.įrom 10,678 feet at the Sandia Crest, the view stretches across Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley to Mount Taylor, 65 miles distant. From miniature carved figures and animated dioramas to wacky Western memorabilia, the 22-room collection is a spectacle like no other. On the way up, stop at Tinkertown Museum, the life work of folk artist Ross Ward. Take time to chat with the establishment owners, and you’ll discover people who are inspired, independent, iconoclastic and visionary - but most of all, who have an ardent passion for life.Īt the crossroads at San Antonito, NM 536 spurs off to Sandia Crest. Little museums, bizarre roadside attractions, fine-art and craft galleries, trading posts, B&Bs, and mom-and-pop cafés line the winding corridor through the juniper-piñon-covered hills. Joe Dan Lowry, the owner and a fourth-generation turquoise miner, will gladly give you an impromptu Turquoise 101 lesson.Ĭontinue north through Cedar Crest. The museum displays turquoise from 30 mines across the Southwest, while the lapidary shop demonstrates how the mineral is cut, polished and set in jewelry. To learn more about the local history of turquoise, start at the Turquoise Museum at the corner of Rio Grande and Central Avenue, across the street from Old Town. (From Old Town, I-40 east to Tijeras, exit 175, 20 miles) Turquoise Trail Day Trip ItineraryĪll stops accommodate tour buses and RVs. The following is a suggested itinerary for those interested in a day trip to small New Mexico towns and artist communities. Mayan ruins as far away as Honduras contained jewelry with stones mined from the Cerrillos Hills along the New Mexico Turquoise Trail. Archeologists unearthed 56,000 pieces of turquoise in a single burial at Chaco Canyon. The Southwest Native Americans called turquoise “chalichihuiti,” or sky stone, and considered it a sacred talisman for health, happiness and protection.
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