6 Best Sights in Day Trips from Santa Fe, New Mexico

This small, frontier, adobe church has a fantastically carved and painted reredos (altar screen) and is built on the site where, believers say, a mysterious light came from the ground on Good Friday in 1810 leading to the discovery of a large wooden crucifix beneath the earth. The chapel sits above a sacred pozito (a small hole), the dirt from which is believed to have miraculous healing properties. Dozens of abandoned crutches and braces placed in the anteroom—along with many notes, letters, and photos—testify to this. The Santuario draws a steady stream of worshippers year-round—Chimayó is considered the Lourdes of the Southwest. During Holy Week as many as 30,000 pilgrims come here. The shrine is is surrounded by small adobe shops selling every kind of religious curio imaginable and some very fine traditional Hispanic work from local artists. A smaller chapel, Santo Niño de Atocha, was built in 1857 and lies 200 yards away. As at the more famous Santuario, the dirt in this place of worship is said to have healing properties.

The ruins of New Mexico's largest American frontier-era fort sit on an empty windswept plain about a half-hour drive north of Las Vegas. It still echoes with the isolation surely felt by the soldiers stationed here between 1851 and 1890, when the fort was established to protect travelers and settlers along the Santa Fe Trail. It eventually became a military supply depot for the Southwest, but was eventually abandoned. The visitor center provides historical background about the fort and you can walk among the extensive ruins on your own or explore different parts of the grounds on a ranger tour (they're given throughout the year, but more often in the busier spring and fall seasons).

This angular, contemporary nature center stands out as much for its dramatic design as for the engaging exhibits within. Families appreciate the interactive Children's Discovery Area and the giant scale model of the Pajarito Plateau that kids are encouraged to play on. There's also a high-tech planetarium with astronomy shows or films most weekends, nature trails, wildlife and conservation exhibits, and gardens with local flora and plenty of visiting birdlife.

A high-forest drive brings you to the awe-inspiring Valles (vah-yes) Grande, which at 14 miles in diameter is one of the world's largest calderas. Created from the eruption and collapse of a 14,000-foot peak more than 1¼ million years ago, the flow out the bottom of this famed caldera created the Pajarito Plateau and the ash from the eruption spread as far east as Kansas. You can't imagine the volcanic crater's immensity until you spot what look like specks of dust on the lush meadow floor and realize they're elk. The National Park Service manages this 89,000-acre multiuse tract of land, which became a national preserve in 2000. It's especially popular for its variety of gorgeous hiking trails as well as for wildlife watching, fly-fishing, mountain biking and e-biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horseback riding. From June through September, rangers offer free guided hikes around Cerro la Jara (with a focus on volcanos) and through the Cabin District and History Grove, where you'll learn about the caldera's 11,000-year human history. Stargazing programs and moonlit walks are also offered occasionally, as are fly-fishing clinics. For the foreseeable future, while the park service continues to improve the preserve's infrastructure, there's no fee to enter; check the website for updates. 

Los Alamos National Laboratory's public showcase, the Bradbury provides a balanced and provocative examination of such topics as atomic weapons and nuclear power. You can experiment with lasers; witness research in solar, geothermal, fission, and fusion energy; learn about DNA fingerprinting; and view fascinating exhibits about World War II's Project Y (the Manhattan Project, whose participants developed the atomic bomb).

More than 250 known species—including eagles, sandhill cranes, hawks, and prairie falcons—travel the Central Flyway to this 8,672-acre area of marshes, native grasslands, and forested canyons. Here, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains meet the Great Plains, the 1¾-mile-long Gallinas Nature Trail winds beside sandstone cliffs and ruins, and an 8-mile auto tour loops through the most picturesque habitats of the refuge (four-wheel-drive can be necessary following rain or snow). The visitor center leaves out free maps and bird species guides for visitors at all times.