Road to enchantment; Santa Fe, Taos, ancient wonders, and sublime food: take the ultimate drive around New Mexico

Sunset, Nov, 2004 by Lawrence W. Cheek

Shevek & Mi. Eclectic Mediterranean menu. $$. 602 N. Bullard St.; 505/534-9168.

Taos

Fechin Inn. This elegant hotel incorporates Nicolai Fechin's home. 84 rooms from $114. 227 Paseo del Pueblo Norte; 505/751-1000.

The Historic Taos Inn. Famous historic-district hotel opened in 1936. 36 rooms from $60, 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte; 800/826-7466.

Lambert's of Taos. Elegant setting, new American cuisine, $$$; reservations suggested. 309 Paseo del Pueblo Sur; 505/758-1009.

Rita's Mexican Restaurant. Basic and authentic. $. 1638 Paseo del Pueblo Norte; 505/751-4431.

Side trips

These nearby destinations don't rank below those on our Grand Tour, they just invite different wanderings. Use these listings and our map to create your own itinerary. For all travels, the New Mexico Atlas & Gazetteer (DeLorme Publishing Company; $20) is a wise investment.

Bandelier National Monument

Adolph Bandelier, a Swissborn amateur archaeologist, created the foundation of Southwest archaeology here. Sites date from 1175 to 1500, and there are more than 70 miles of forest hiking trails. Off State 4, 10 miles southeast of Los Alamos; 505/672-0343.

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

Northwest of Chaco Canyon, Bisti is serious-business badlands, a giant chess set of sandstone-and-shale hoodoos. You're on your own here--no ranger station, no trails, no interpretive signs, absolutely no water. Off State 371, about 35 miles south of Farmington; 505/599-8900.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Touring all the caves in the national park's 30-mile complex will take two days, but it's worth the time. Most tours are now ranger-guided; reservations recommended. Off U.S. 62/180, 7 miles west of Whites City; 505/785-2232 (information) or 800/967-2283 (tour reservations).

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

The national monument honors cliff dwellings the Mogollon people built around 1276, the first year of a devastating 23-year drought. Like the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings far to the north, Gila has T-shaped doorways and kivas. At the end of State 15, 44 miles north of Silver City; 505/536-9461.

Los Alamos

Birthplace of the atomic bomb, the government town has the highest per capita percentage of PhDs in the country. The Brodbury Science Museum (15th St. at Central Ave.; 505/667-4444) documents the development of the A-bomb and its enduring controversies.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY TIM CARROLL

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID ZAITZ