The Turquoise Trail Scenic Byway

The Turquoise Trail is a beautiful scenic byway connecting Santa Fe with Los Cerrillos, Madrid, Golden, Sandia Park, Cedar Crest, and Tijeras. The road travels through some of the oldest mining country in New Mexico, and some of the newest developments. When I used to live in Santa Fe, I took this route all the time as a great alternative to the insanity of the Interstate between Santa Fe and Albuquerque (the number of daily commuters who live in one city and work in the other is simply amazing).

The area between Santa Fe and Los Cerrillos is, for the most part, wide open prairie with great views. Since Rancho San Marcos started being broken into smaller acreages, there are houses popping up everywhere. I noticed quite a few new houses immediately in the Garden of the Gods area that weren't there just a couple of years ago. But once I went up the hill going south out of Los Cerrillos, that was the end of the new subdivisions until somewhere down around Sandia (and the drive I made to take these photos ended at Golden).