Local Attractions
Our nearest neighbor may be miles away, but there is much to do and experience in this historically and environmentally rich area. Santa Fe and Taos are both within a two hour drive from the ranch and offer extraordinary museums, art galleries and shopping, in addition to active adventures like skiing and whitewater river rafting.
Las Vegas
Closer to home—a little over a half hour away—is the small city of Las Vegas, occupied as early as 8,000 B.C. by Paleo-Indians and much later by the Plains American Indians. During its hayday of the rollicking railroad era over 130 years ago, Las Vegas was known as the "wildest of the Wild West towns." It was the last major stop on the Old Santa Fe Trail and was infamous as a haven for bandits, Rough Riders and later, silent screen stars. Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Big-Nosed Kate, Teddy Roosevelt and Tom Mix all strolled these streets! Check out what the New York Times had to say about Las Vegas...
Take a self-guided walking tour of the Rough Riders Memorial and through several picturesque historic districts, including a designated Santa Fe Trail site and historic Old Town. You'll find Las Vegas to be a charming, modern town with a colorful history. The city has over 1,000 homes and businesses on the National Register of Historic Places, a public golf course, an airport, shops, restaurants and old time soda fountains. It also remains a popular filming location for cinematographers, with over 60 movies having been filmed within the city limits between 1913 and 2008 (including Wyatt Earp, Easy Riders and All The Pretty Horses). While you're there, don't miss the natural hot springs near Montezuma Castle, just outside the city limits. These 112° pools are outside and well maintained, and are free to use. Be sure to take some pictures of the Montezuma Castle itself: a turn-of-the-century resort bathhouse, the castle is now home to 200 students from over 100 countries as the campus for the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West.