Spring in Santa Fe

Spring in Santa Fe is the honest season. March can snow on Monday and hit 65 by Thursday. April is windy. May is close to perfect. Here is what locals do with it, and what to show visiting family on a spring break week.

Ski in the morning, hike in the afternoon

Ski Santa Fe usually runs into early April. On a March morning you can ski corn snow at 12,000 feet until noon, drive 16 miles down Hyde Park Road, and hike the Dale Ball Trails in a T-shirt by two. The Dale Ball system is 24 miles of trail inside the city limits, with trailheads off Hyde Park Road and Cerro Gordo, and it is the reason a lot of people buy on the Northside and in the foothills.

Atalaya Mountain, from the St. John’s College parking lot, is the classic in-town climb: about 6 miles round trip and 1,600 feet up, with the whole city below you at the top.

Hot springs

• Ten Thousand Waves, on Hyde Park Road ten minutes from the Plaza. Japanese-style outdoor tubs in the piñon and juniper. Book ahead on weekends.
• Ojo Caliente, 50 minutes north past Española. Mineral pools, a mud pool, and the old bathhouse. The drive up US 285 through the Rio Grande gorge country is part of the trip.
• Jemez Springs, about 90 minutes west via Los Alamos. The town has a bathhouse, and there are undeveloped springs along the Jemez River for people who like to hike to their soak.

Day trips that need reservations

• Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, 45 minutes southwest near Cochiti Pueblo. The slot canyon and the cone-shaped rock formations are unlike anything else in the state. It requires a timed-entry ticket from recreation.gov and a separate Cochiti Pueblo pass, and it is open Thursday through Monday, so book before you drive.
• Bandelier National Monument, an hour northwest near Los Alamos. The Main Loop Trail takes you past cliff dwellings you climb into on wooden ladders. In spring the cottonwoods along Frijoles Creek leaf out early.

Good Friday at Chimayó

If spring break lands on Holy Week, you will share the roads north of town with thousands of people walking to El Santuario de Chimayó. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the country, and it is worth seeing even if you do not walk. We wrote a guide to the walk.

Learn to cook the food

The Santa Fe School of Cooking, on Guadalupe Street near the Railyard, runs classes most days: red and green chile, tamales, tortillas, and a walking tour of the restaurants downtown. It is a good rainy-day plan, and spring is the season for rainy days.

The Rail Runner to Albuquerque

For a day with children, the Rail Runner commuter train leaves from the Railyard station and gets to downtown Albuquerque in about 90 minutes. The BioPark, the Explora science museum, and the Hinkle Family Fun Center are all easy from there. The train ride along the Rio Grande is the point, though.

Spring and real estate

Spring is when inventory picks up in Santa Fe, and when the wind shows you which houses were sited well. If you are looking, a windy April afternoon is a useful time to stand on a portal. Start with every active listing, or read our guide for buyers.