The Santa Fe County Open Space, Trails and Parks Program manages a total of 9,400 acres of open space, 18 parks, and 75 miles of trails for use and recreation by County residents and visitors. The interactive trail map covers hundreds of trails throughout the County, including County trails, Santa Fe National Forest trails, City of Santa Fe trails, and others. It includes directions, elevation profiles, photos, parking information, and contact details. Check the map details before setting out if you are choosing a specific route.

Trails with Different Profiles

The El Camino Real Trail runs 14 miles north from the trailhead at 14 Constellation Drive to Diablo Canyon. The trailhead has a paved parking lot for 20 cars, information boards, and two footbridges over the Santa Fe River. The trail surface is also clearly divided: the first 4.5 miles to County Road 62 are paved, while the remaining section is unpaved. This distinction makes it possible to factor the surface into your plans without treating the entire route as uniform.

The Santa Fe River Greenway covers about 8 miles within Santa Fe County’s jurisdiction. This section runs from the city limits at Frenchy’s Field to the wastewater treatment plant west of NM-599. A shorter connection is the San Isidro River Park and Trail: from the parking lot at San Isidro Crossing, it follows the Santa Fe River for 0.7 miles to Agua Fria Park. These details highlight how the routes differ: for the Greenway, the focus is on the length of a section; for the San Isidro Trail, it is the connection between two named starting and ending points.

On the Santa Fe Rail Trail, the Spur Trail connects to it 1.78 miles south of the Rabbit Road Trailhead. Trains on the Santa Fe Southern Railway run scenic round trips along the route; check the schedule when making specific plans. Another distinctive trail is the six-mile Arroyo Hondo Trail. This multi-use recreational trail connects the Rail Runner station at NM-599, Santa Fe Community College, and the I-25/Cerrillos Road interchange. Section 2 includes a 90-foot-long footbridge over Arroyo Hondo.

Individual viewpoints also tell the story of the landscape: from viewpoints in Arroyo Hondo Open Space, you can see the historic Arroyo Hondo Dam No. 2, built in the early 20th century. Along the Pecos River, the South Pasture Loop Trail passes through grazing land and a stand of cottonwoods. Both examples pair specific landscape features with guidance to help you decide what you would like to discover along the way.

Cultural Traces and Historic Sites

El Rancho de las Golondrinas was an important resting place on the Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa Fe. The historic ranch complex dates from the early 18th century; today, it is a 200-acre living history museum dedicated to the heritage and culture of Spanish Colonial New Mexico. At Pecos National Historical Park, the Trading Post and preserved structures from Pecos Pueblo and the Spanish Mission are tangible traces of the past. Built in the 1850s as a station on the Santa Fe Trail, the Trading Post now serves as a visitor center and museum about the Santa Fe Trail, the Civil War, and ranching in New Mexico.

The 1.5-mile Tsankawi Trail offers a different window into the past: it crosses mesa terrain, passing cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and the Ancestral Pueblo village of Tsankawi. Ladders are required on the trail; it is highly exposed to the weather and should not be hiked during local thunderstorms. At Nambé Falls, there are two trails, each about a quarter mile long, starting from the Ramada Area. One climbs the hill to a viewpoint above the waterfalls. The other runs along and through the river to a beach at the lowest pool. The contrast is clear: a climb to a viewpoint on one route, versus a riverside path and a beach at the pool on the other.

Other cultural sites offer different ways to engage with history and living traditions. El Santuario de Chimayó is a Spanish Colonial church built in 1813 and a National Historic Landmark. The Poeh Cultural Center and Museum is dedicated to preserving the traditional arts of New Mexico’s Tewa-speaking Pueblos, exhibits Pueblo art and exhibitions, and hosts traditional Indigenous dances. Agua Fria Village was originally a resting place on the Camino Real; adobe houses and the historic San Isidro Church define one of North America’s oldest agricultural settlements. Nambé Pueblo honors San Francisco de Asís each year on October 4 with a feast day.

Discover more destinations: Santa Fe, Española, Jaconita, Agua Fria, Los Cerrillos, Cañada de los Alamos, Roosevelt, San Juan.

For the broader travel overview: New Mexico.