Donate to the Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike
The Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization. Our employer identification number (EIN) is 93-3897864.
Our mission is four-fold:
- Raise awareness that the thru-hike exists – that people can hike from the Santa Plaza to Taos Plaza.
- Get people excited enough about the thru-hike to consider doing it themselves, and to give them confidence that they can do it.
- To make sure they have enough information, resources, and a well-enough maintained trail to have a great time on the thru-hike.
- To give people a positive experience of the wilderness so they will care enough about it to take ongoing, meaningful action to preserve it.
We believe the thru-hike could be a tremendous opportunity for New Mexicans, both to enjoy the thru-hike themselves and to support tourists doing the thru-hike. But primarily, we want to provide support and education to help New Mexicans, young and old, experienced and not-so-experienced, get out on the trail.
That requires time, effort, organization and promotion, insurance and permits, gear for people who don’t have their own, competent guides, on-the-ground support for transport and supplies, and publicity and marketing programs to generate enough interest and enthusiasm to get people to come out and see this backcountry.
We also believe the thru-hike presents an opportunity to talk about climate change. As our climate shifts, and wildfires become more intense and frequent (as 2022 so brutally taught us), this land is changing. The forests the thru-hike goes through are under stress.
If we can give more people an experience of the wilderness – if we can show them how precious and beautiful and life-changing an experience of the wilderness can be – maybe they will care enough to take action to protect what we still have.
