Qualla: High Road to Taos https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: High Road to Taos https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos High Road to Taos: Introduction https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit James M. Slack, Public domain. Every village along the High Road to Taos has a name that tells a story. Nambe means People of the Round Earth in Tewa. Truchas means trout, for the fish-filled river that sustained a frontier settlement built as a walled fortress against Apache and Comanche raids. Las Trampas translates to the traps. Chimayo is synonymous with healing earth and handwoven textiles passed down through generations of Spanish colonial families. This official New Mexico scenic byway winds through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Santa Fe and Taos, but calling it a road understates what it actually is: a living corridor through four centuries of human persistence in the high desert.

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: James M. Slack | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full High Road to Taos: Where the Road Begins https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit James M. Slack, Public domain. The High Road starts north of Santa Fe in Pojoaque at the intersection of U.S. 285/84 and State Road 503. It quickly reaches Nambe Pueblo, founded in the 14th century, whose plaza is a registered National Historic Landmark. The original grand church on State Road 503 no longer st...

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: James M. Slack | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-where-the-road-begins.mp3 0:06 2 full High Road to Taos: Pilgrims and Weavers of Chimayo https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit James M. Slack, Public domain. Chimayo draws visitors for two things: faith and fiber. The Santuario de Chimayo, a tiny adobe church built between 1811 and 1816, attracts pilgrims from across the United States and Mexico. On Good Friday, crowds swell into the thousands as walkers complete pilgrimages of dozens...

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: James M. Slack | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-pilgrims-and-weavers-of-chimayo.mp3 0:06 3 full High Road to Taos: Woodcarvers, Trout, and Fortress Walls https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit James M. Slack, Public domain. The mountain villages arrive in quick succession, each with its own character. Cordova is known for its woodcarvers, particularly those working in the Cordova Style pioneered by George Lopez: unpainted santos carved to reveal the natural grain and shape of the wood. Higher still,...

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: James M. Slack | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-woodcarvers-trout-and-fortress-walls.mp3 0:06 4 full High Road to Taos: Land Grants and Mountain Churches https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY-SA 2.5. Beyond Truchas, the road enters the former Las Trampas Land Grant, now part of the Carson National Forest. Las Trampas itself was founded in 1751 by royal grant as Santo Tomas Apostol del Rio de las Trampas -- Saint Thomas, Apostle of the River of Traps. Despite smallpox epidemic...

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: Bobak Ha'Eri | CC BY-SA 2.5

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-land-grants-and-mountain-churches.mp3 0:06 5 full High Road to Taos: The Church at the End of the Road https://qualla.com/high-road-to-taos/ Photo credit John Collier Jr, photographer for Office of War Information, Public domain. The High Road officially ends where State Road 518 meets State Road 68 in Ranchos de Taos, but its symbolic terminus is a few blocks south at the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church. Constructed between 1772 and 1815, this adobe church is one of the most painted and photographed...

Read more: High Road to Taos on Qualla

Image: John Collier Jr, photographer for Office of War Information | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/k/s/high-road-to-taos-wp/9wks-high-road-to-taos-the-church-at-the-end-of-the-road.mp3 0:06 6 full