I'm planning to take a 5-6 days trip from Denver, CO to Santa Fe, NM.
I wonder if you may have any suggestion for place to stops and enjoy a landscape.
I love to take landscape and winter images during this trip as well.
Thank you very much for your comments.
You'll have to check weather & highway conditions fairly frequently for this journey. If it's open, I'd suggest US 285 southwest out of Denver to Buena Vista/Salida (two mountain passes with some landscape potential). Alternately, you could go down I25 to Colorado Springs and catch the Garden of the Gods at sunrise with snowy peaks behind. Thence US 24 to US 285 near Buena Vista.
Continue on 285 south over Poncha Pass to the San Luis Valley. Turn off on CO 17 south to the Great Sand Dunes National Park - could be spectacular in the winter. Back on 17 to Alamosa, then 285 south again into NM. Take US 64 over to Taos for part of a day, then NM 68 south to Santa Fe (or the High Road to Taos if it's open).
Just based on my experiences in the area; I'm sure the CO locals will have more (and better-detailed) suggestions.
Is Rdigeway, CO too far out of your way? If not, try county road #5 out of Ridgeway for some views of the Sneffels with fresh snow on them. And south of Ridgeway is Crystal Lake on the Million Dollar Highway for some early morning calm water reflection shots. Shiprock from Navajo Mt. would be a nice one. Jarv
When in Sana Fe don't miss the drive to the ski area. The fall colors may be gone but it is still a beautiful drive. We were there in September and enjoyed it.
I live in Santa Fe and I agree with rjb6893 as the best for Photography from there to here...When in Santa Fe..Yes, the ski basin...Abiquiu {for red rock},Chama for trains/snow, Madrid old mining town filled with characters and fun.A couple of hours south of Albuquerque you have the Bosque del Apache for bird photos {check out Trenchmonkey}.....and a link here for some sites in NM.
Have a safe trip!
Thanks for good suggestions. I am up for snow shoeing and winter hiking as well. Our group can go on a moderate hike without any trouble. We will be there sometime in Dec and We expect to a full-blown winter weather and will brace ourselves for the unexpected.
