Explore Santa Fe: Outdoor Activities

Snow days can be an interruption, a bother, a halt to carefully made plans. They don't have to be, though.

Properly handled, snow days -- when school is canceled and work is late and parents have to adjust schedules to provide child care -- ought to be a gift.

Because once the snow has fallen and school has been canceled but the roads are plowed, the entire family can jump in the car or walk to a steep park and take time out for fun.

TRAINS, LIKE CHRISTMAS, have an air of magic about them, especially when they are historic steam locomotives. Merge Christmas with these antique trains and you have the formula for a magical adventure. That is why the Santa Fe Southern Railway's holiday trains have become a Christmas tradition for many families. And those holiday trains are just one part of the winter train runs available in the Santa Fe area. At Santa Fe Southern Railyway, the most popular run is the Story Book Train, which revolves around a reading of Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express.

Snow shoe trails this time of year tend to end just where it starts to get interesting. Packing down one to two feet of snow, plowing through fresh drifts, and trying to see the semblance of a trail is a laborious and time consuming act. Of course you have the company of snow covered pines along with various forms of snow and ice sculpted for their wild beauty to keep you company. Then there is the occasional glimpse of a snow capped peak outlined against the crystal blue sky that helps to keep the legs moving forward.

The trees are thinning out, the sunlight is getting brighter and the skies are starting to open up. Even my backpack feels lighter as I reach the top of Hamilton Mesa. The hike will continue for miles without any steep climbing; mostly flat, some rolling hills and views that I dream about.

Hamilton Mesa - Late Fall

The four mile dirt road to the Iron Gate trailhead has to be taken seriously. Lined with ruts, pot holes, boulders and vast bottomless holes it takes 30 minutes of bone jarring driving to reach the trail head. I'm drawn to the solitude of Hamilton Mesa, a vast open area at 9800 feet. The mesa offers massive mountain vistas to the east along with steep terraced hills and dark valleys to the west and south. There is a light dusting of snow as I begin my climb. The sky is a clear blue, entirely cloudless. I set my GPS and double check my equipment as Luna darts ahead watching for anything that might move.