Nikolai Yampolsky
7 days, June 18 – June 24
Completed at once in northbound direction.
For a couple of years, I had been thinking about going from Santa Fe to Taos on foot. The idea kept sitting in the back of my mind until I finally decided to stop just thinking about it and actually make it happen. Once I started researching, I found the website where Pam had kindly laid out the Santa Fe to Taos Trail and included all the information needed to hike it. That made the whole trip much easier, less stressful, and more enjoyable. I am very grateful to her for putting all of that work into the route.
I hiked the trail northbound, from Santa Fe to Taos over 7 days. The logistics were simple enough, especially because there are public buses between Taos and Santa Fe. For New Mexico locals, getting to and from those towns is pretty manageable from many parts of the state.
The route stays mostly between 9,000 and 12,000 feet, so the elevation is definitely something to keep in mind. For anyone coming from sea level, that could be one of the bigger challenges of the hike. I was lucky with the weather. There were storms around, but they never really hit me. At lower elevations, especially in open areas without shade, it could get warm enough to be uncomfortable. Higher up, though, the temperatures were very pleasant. Since the trail spends a lot of time in the forest, sun exposure was usually not too bad.
2026 was a very dry year, with almost no snow during the winter. Little Tesuque Creek near Santa Fe and La Cueva Lake were completely dry, but the other water sources listed for the route were fine. Overall, the map and route description were reliable. In most places, there was another water source within about five or six miles, so water management never felt like a major problem.
The scenery was one of the best parts of the trip. The trail has a lot of variety: mountains above and below tree line, lakes, aspen groves, spruce forest, piñon and ponderosa, open meadows, and creeks of different sizes with easy crossings. My favorite area was around Truchas Peaks and Truchas Lake. The scenery there was marvelous, and there were very few people. It would have been even better if I had been lucky enough to see bighorn sheep.
The southern part of the route felt more dramatic and scenic overall, but it also had more people, especially up to Stewart Lake on the weekend. The northern half became less scenic once the route started using more forest roads, but the walking was faster there. On weekdays, the forest roads had little to no traffic, which made those sections more peaceful than I expected.
Overall, I really enjoyed my week in the Pecos Wilderness. The route is long enough to let you step away from daily life and settle into the rhythm of walking, but not so long that it turns into an ordeal where the only goal is to finish. For me, it was a beautiful, memorable, and very worthwhile way to travel from Santa Fe to Taos.