Rio En Medio

You can lose the crowds just by heading a little farther from town: Rio en Medio Trail (no. 163) begins north of Tesuque and leads along a clear stream to a series of waterfalls and then up some rather strenuous switchbacks to a large meadow that’s filled with wildflowers in springtime. From the trailhead to the first cascade is 1.7 miles; the meadow is at the 3.5-mile mark, and then the trail converges half a mile later with Nambe Trail (no. 160), where you’ll probably want to turn around, for a hike that will take a total of four or five hours.

To reach the trailhead, drive north out of Santa Fe [1] on Washington Avenue, which becomes Bishop’s Lodge Road (Highway 590). Drive straight through the village of Tesuque and then turn right in less than a mile onto Highway 592, following signs for the village of Rio en Medio. In the village, which you reach after 6.5 miles, the road turns into County Road 78-D, a very unpromising-looking dirt track that winds through front yards for 0.8 mile before ending in a small parking area. A forest road carries on from there for a short stretch, and then the trail proper heads off to the right and down along a stream.