Historic Santa Fe Walks
Santa Fe, founded in 1610, is the oldest state capital in the country, which is doubly interesting because New Mexico is one of the newest states (the 47th). It is also the highest state capital, sitting at an elevation of 7,200 feet.
Fun fact: the city’s full name is La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ("the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi").
Santa Fe has a long and interesting history - it was, by turns, a pueblo, a Spanish colony, a Mexican province, a U.S territory, and finally a U.S. state. Although I learned a lot from a couple of guided walking tours and a visit to the New Mexico History Museum, my favorite approach to learning about Santa Fe was to come across an interesting building or artwork on one of our walks, take photos, and look it up later.
Santa Fe Trail
Our adobe house is just 200 feet from the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, labeled on the street signs as “Old Santa Fe Trail.” In one direction, the road leads past historic churches to the plaza in downtown Santa Fe; in the other direction it leads to Museum Hill (and eventually Missouri). From 1821 to 1880, this was the primary highway used by traders, pioneers, gold seekers, and other adventurers. It was fun to think that this same road was used by covered wagons and stagecoaches!
On some days, I walked up the Old Santa Fe Trail to Museum Hill and its impressive buildings, sculptures, and vistas. Unfortunately, much of the trail and the nearby streets lack sidewalks, and I was forced to walk on the road and watch carefully for oncoming traffic.
Santa Fe River Park Trail
The Santa Fe River Park is a grassy, tree-lined strip that follows the Santa Fe River for nearly 10 miles. The river used to flow year-round - that’s why indigenous people established a Pueblo here around 450 CE. Now, it’s a rushing creek in the spring, but will dry up in the summer; in fact, it’s considered an endangered river. The Santa Fe River Park Trail was one of my favorite walks; after about 10 minutes on the Old Santa Fe Trail, I could enjoy a long paved sidewalk with plenty of shade. This being artsy Santa Fe, there were plenty of outdoor sculptures and decorative benches to admire when walking here.
The Railyard
In early 1880, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company arrived, starting the demise of the Santa Fe Trail. With its big turntable for rotating locomotives, the Santa Fe Railyard became a hub of commerce, tourism, and social activity.
Today, The Railyard is the home of the Farmers Market, the Artisans Market, boutiques and restaurants, and a movie theater. The Railyard Park is an urban park that incorporates the old railroad tracks into its award-winning design. To reach The Railyard, we walked about 15 minutes through the residential streets of our neighborhood. The Farmers Market was smaller than the one we had seen in the summer, but we still walked over to The Railyard once or twice a week for a bit of shopping or a good meal.
