The Turquoise Trail

I was sitting on my bed, laptop open, empty cereal bowl on the floor, unread theory books piled on the desk.  The sun was streaming in the windows, it was a beautiful day with clouds building over the Sandias, my housemate was still at work, and it was only mid-day.  I was terribly bored.

I had browsed Pinterest and Facebook until my mouse no longer wanted to function.  I had probably consumed half a box of Smith's discount corn flakes, and my theory books were leering at me from the desk, judging me.  I should be studying for my comps exams.  

Never.  It was summer, and I was supposed to be having fun.  

A few nights before, I had had been looking on Google Maps to see if a huge swatch of green, tilled land many, many miles from my worksite was labeled.  It hadn't been, but there had been a picture of a town called Golden nearby, and some interesting historic structures ruining off the side of the highway.  It struck me that I should find Golden and these ruins, and photograph them.  And so I did.

The Turquoise Trail runs from just east of Albuquerque, off I40, to Santa Fe, by a much more scenic route than taking I25 will give you.  In between the ABQ and Santa Fe are a series of small towns: Tijeras, Cedar Crest, Paako, Golden, Madrid (as in mad, angry: yes, I know it's wrong), and Cerillos.  The whole drive, without stopping, takes about an hour.  The road is good, thin, winding, and rolling.  Great views, no pull-offs.  Be prepared to drive a bit slower so you can gape at the scenery without becoming a permanent part of it.  Although the roadside crosses are pretty, it would be in everyone's best interest to avoid making more.

I had already been through Tijeras and Cedar Crest, so I will start this tour in Paako.  Paako is actually an archaeological site.  It is a prehistoric pueblo, with some historic Catholic church ruins mixed in.  However, what you see from the road is a slight opening in the trees to the west, and if you look closely, a battered blue sign announcing Paako, and that it is state land.  I think.  Please drive up to the fence and look over with your binoculars.  You won't see much in the way of ruins - this isn't Chaco or Mesa Verde, but you can see slight mounds, and the sign has more information, once you're closer.  If you're observant you might see some potsherds and such just the other side of the fence.  Please remember - look, take pictures, but DON'T touch, move, remove, etc! (Seriously, I will get you.) And if the prairie dogs who live there currently have been doing their jobs, probably not much will be on the surface near the fence.  You'll probably want to move on pretty quickly.

Leaving Paako (the real one), a minute later you'll drive past the turn-in for Paako's golf course.  No, not the prehistoric golf course.  For some reason  beyond me they've decided to make Paako's backyard into a gated community with a golf course.  It seems to have escaped builders, landscapers, real estate people etc that one of the reasons Paako was temporarily abandoned was because the water ran out.  Water ran out.  No nice golf course lawn for you.  Bad golf course.  

Ahem.  Getting off my soap box and back on the road, New Mexico State Road 14 has officially become the Turquoise Trail at this point!  Ten minutes further up the road and into my adventure, the speed limit dropped to a rather alarmingly low speed, and I crawled into - and still almost missed - Golden.  Golden is a few houses, a mercantile which looks charming and is never open, the ruin you see from the road, and a church.

Mining car on the west side of the road; ruins beyond.

Ruins on the hillside.

And the sky there?  Whew.  Talk about blue.

A stunning sky, a quaint mining car, and lovely solitude on the side of a road are about all the charms Golden has to offer, but it is still worth the stop.  And at this point in my journey, I was in no mood to turn around, so I decided to drive all the way up to Santa Fe, and stop at every random thing that took my fancy.  

The next town on the Trail is Madrid.  Not Madrid, as in Spain.  Say mad, like you're very angry.  Then add 'drid' onto the end.  Madrid.  Very good.  Again, I have NO idea why New Mexicans have decided to say it wrong, but go with it and they'll treat you like a local.  AKA, tell you where the only public loo in town is.

Madrid's main road is narrow and short - maybe a mile long?  It's packed with locals, tourists, children running amok, hitchhikers smoking, and bikers (motorized), so drive even slower than the posted speed.  It's kind of like being on campus, really...

Again, sky!

There are lots of places to eat, every house on the street is selling Bohemian clothing and New Age or Modern art, so find a parking spot (if you can), and walk it.  Eat.  Food is a bit pricey there, but tourism is the only income the town has.  It was a boom mining town, then in the 40s was said to have shipped coal out for the Manhattan Project.  After the war was over, it became a ghost because, get this - there is NO water.  None.  All of the water Madrid uses is piped in from ABQ.  Wells are too impractical here.  So when you're visiting, there are public vault toilets on the south end of town, on the east just next to the tavern and railway museum.  No water.  Crazy!

The Weather Bone makes me laugh.

A delicious pizza from Jezebel's Soda Fountain.

A boot store made from an old AT&SF rail car!

Go into the tavern and pay $5 for the tour.  They let you run around the old railyard and play in the train.

My favorite house there - it looks like part of a Wild, Wild, West set!

And that is lovely Madrid!  I definitely recommend it; it certainly made my day about twenty times more amazing than it had been before.  And I dragged my housemate back a few days later, and then my folks a month later when they came to visit.  Madrid is absolutely going to make you smile.  And eat ice cream.

Another 15 minutes north of Madrid is the turn off to Cerillos.  Cerillos is the complete opposite of Madrid; the nicest building in town is the State Park office.  I think it's a state park....hmmm.  You'll have to go check.  Take the turn-off, head west into the little drainage, and welcome to Cerillos, which boasts dirt roads and an impressive Petting Zoo/Gift Shop/Mining Museum all in an adobe house lined with the biggest number of aqua glass insulators I've ever seen in my life.  And I've seen my share of aqua glass insulators.

The Petting Zoo is free, and you can get a $2 bag of birdseed to feed the llama and goats from the gift shop.  The museum is also in the gift shop, and is another $2.  They only take cash. The gift shop is full of oddities found during the mining period.  There are also some other articles in there I wouldn't suggest buying (you'll know them when you see them), and things from other periods (the 1987 Pakistani paisas, for instance), but it's a great place to go if you like to buy rocks and minerals for your children.  And the llama is very friendly.

The llama eating some birdseed.

A nearby old structure next to the railway.

My parents feeding a goat.

After Cerillos, it's about twenty minutes to half an hour of smooth, lovely driving through the mountains before you reach Santa Fe.  The first time I drove the road a thunderstorm rolled in at this point, and it was spectacular.  Once I got to Santa Fe, I had spent about four hours driving, and had wiled away most of the afternoon.  You can be sure I took the Turquoise Trail back to ABQ, though.  No I 25 for me.

My next adventure - the Rio Grande Gorge and Taos.