Casa Blanca Inn and Suites
Built in the 1950s for lumber magnate H. Merrill Taylor in Spanish Colonial Hacienda style and renovated in the early 2000s by the current owners, the nine-room Casa Blanca Inn and Suites, in Farmington, is the ideal base for exploring the nearby Animas River Trail system, Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings.
Don’t miss: Make time to relax—maybe read a book?—in the lush gardens.
From left
Center yourself in a labyrinth at Bear Mountain Lodge. Relax outdoors at the Abiquiu Inn. Photographs by Jay Hemphill and courtesy of Abiquiu Inn.
Bear Mountain Lodge
Homestead, ranch house, school for “mentally peculiar” children, hotel, and now guest accommodations, Bear Mountain Lodge sits on 178 acres abutting the secluded Gila National Forest near Silver City. Wend through two labyrinths and the many well-marked trails, or bird-watch on the lookout bench—and see why Bear Mountain is listed in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.
Don’t miss: The salt-lick labyrinth uses a 4,000-year-old design oriented to the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation.
Abiquiu Inn
Next door to the Georgia O’Keeffe Welcome Center, the Abiquiu Inn offers 30 casitas and two larger dwellings, a popular restaurant (try the local lamb burger), a gallery, and a gift shop featuring neighborhood artists.
Don’t miss: A 1.9-mile drive east on US 84 leads to a parking area and a half-mile trail up a mesa to the eroded buildings of the ancient Poshuouinge Pueblo —plus a great view of the Chama River Valley.
