Echo Amphitheater

Drive from the village of Taos up to Taos Ski Valley, for example, and you move from sage-scented high-desert scrub and blood-red soil, to spruce- and fir-clad mountainsides, and finally into an alpine realm of wildflower-dotted meadows. And that's just one arm of the forest - head west to Tres Piedras and you'll be in lush, high-altitude plateau country, cut with cool, trout-filled streams and thick with megafauna from elk to bighorn sheep to black bears.

Farther west, in the Rio Chama Valley area, is Georgia O'Keeffe's red-rock New Mexico, where amid the mesas are attractions like the Ghost Ranch, naturally resonant Echo Amphitheater, and the towering Brazos Cliffs.

Backcountry enthusiasts will find what they're looking for in the Wheeler Peak, Pecos, Cruces Basin, and Latir Peak Wildernesses. Whitewater boaters will enjoy the Chama River and, just outside of the forest boundary, the Taos Box section of the Rio Grande. Anglers will love the trout streams of both the eastern and western wings of the forest. Mountain bikers, horseback riders, and day hikers will find many hundreds of miles of trails in the forest.

But best of all, Carson National Forest's recreational bounty is just part of the appealing tapestry of beautiful country, rich culture, and outstanding lodging, dining, and shopping that have made north-central New Mexico one of the world's most desirable travel destinations.