Take a virtual tour before you go. Sights along the way include:
Chimayo: Chimayo's Plaza del Cerro may be the only surviving fortified plaza in the Southwest, but the biggest attraction here is Santuario de Chimayo, the "Lourdes of the Southwest," where the dirt taken from the floor of small room beside the sacristy is rumored to effect miraculous cures. Nearby you will also find Ortega's Weaving Shop, featuring wool garments, blankets and rugs made by eighth-generation weavers.
Turn north onto NM Highway 518.
Cordova: Noted for its carvers who work in aspen and cedar, Cordova is also home to The Castillo Gallery, which features the work of Terry Ensenat Mulert, a sought-after carver, and Paula Castillo's acrylic paintings and found-art sculptures.
Truchas: Once a Spanish outpost, Truchas clings to a high ridge, its old, tin-roofed adobe buildings little-changed in a century. It's no wonder Robert Redford's chose it as the setting for his film The Milagro Beanfield War. As you enter town, you'll see an adobe building with cross, which is a meeting place for Brotherhood of the Penitentes, a religious society who practice atone for their sins by beating themselves or carrying heavy crosses.
Las Trampas: The village was founded in 1751 and its San Jose de Gracia Church, completed in 1780, is considered one of New Mexico's most beautiful colonial-era structures.
Picuris Pueblo: The smallest of the modern-day pueblos, Picuris Pueblo is famed for it sparkling, unadorned, mica-flecked clay pottery. At the pueblo, you'll find a 200-year-old adobe church, painstakingly restored by the local residents. Picuris celebrates San Lorenzo Feast Day in August with dances, pole-climbing and a morning footrace.
Ranchos de Taos: The most famous sight in Ranchos de Taos is nineteenth-century San Francisco de Asis Church, a massive adobe structure that inspired painter Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as generations of photographers.
Taos: Attractions here include shopping on and around the plaza, the Kitt Carson Home and Museum and historic Taos Pueblo.
Getting to the Taos High Road
From Santa Fe, take US 285 north toward Espanola and Taos. At Espanola, drive east on NM Highway 76.From Taos, drive south toward Espanola, turning south onto Highway 518 in Ranchos de Taos.
