Flora and fauna

The forest is predominantly coniferous, with pi'n/juniper "scrub" at the lowest elevations that gives way to ponderosa pines mid-range and spruce/fir forest higher up. Aspens are intermixed   More...

Santa Fe hosts a seemingly unending series of community fairs, festivals and celebrations, of which the most characteristic is the Fiesta de Santa Fe. This grand city-wide festival is held over a weekend in mid-September, after most of the summer tourists have left (and has been described as Santa Fe throwing a party for itself to celebrate the tourists leaving!). Festivities start with the Friday night burning of Zozobra, also known as "Old Man Gloom," a huge, animated figure whose demise at the hands of a torch-bearing dancer symbolizes the   More...

 • Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The town's main attraction is the nearby national park, which is home to a massive underground limestone cave, claimed to be the most beautiful in the world. If you're going there for the first time, buy an audio guide for $3; it has much more information than the boards (available in several languages). The deepest point of the cave is over 1500 feet below the surface, while the unguided tour descends to a depth of about 900   More...

History
The Chaco dwellings were built and occupied primarily between about 850 and 1250 AD, during which time they were the hub of a   More...