By Patti Nickell, Tribune News Service
SANTA FE, N.M. — Standing on a ledge looking out over the high desert to the needle-like cliff formations of Plaza Blanca (White Place), I can see why artist Georgia O’Keefe was entranced by this part of northern New Mexico.
It was a view she saw every day from the window of her house at Ghost Ranch north of Abiquiu, which in turn is about 60 miles north of Santa Fe. Not only is it a view she imprinted on her heart, it’s one she incorporated into several of her paintings.
Plaza Blanca is a white chalk formation that inspired Georgia O’Keefe, who featured it in several paintings. (onlocationnm/onlocationnm/TNS)
Santa Fe and its surrounding area have always held a similar allure for me. On previous visits, I had mainly focused on the town itself – the historic plaza and Palace of the Governors, the posh Canyon Road galleries, its acclaimed restaurants and renowned cooking school.
I had traveled the Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway linking Santa Fe to Albuquerque, and the High Road to Taos, stopping at the Santuario de Chimayo, an adobe chapel dating back to 1816.
But remarkably, I had never been to Abiquiu or Ghost Ranch, one of the region’s biggest draws thanks to O’Keefe. This time I was determined to rectify that.
Ghost Ranch with Orphan Mesa in the background. (onlocationnm/onlocationnm/TNS)
With the assistance of the Adventure Department at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, I set out on a full-day journey through a landscape my knowledgeable guide said has been “shaped and defined by extraordinary geologic forces, Native American culture and tradition, Spanish settlers, artists and adventurers.”
Even before I arrived at Ghost Ranch, my senses were on overload. We drove through the Tesuque Pueblo in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which dates back as early as 1200 and was flourishing when the Spanish arrived in the 1600s. The Pueblo played a key role in the 1680 revolt against the Spanish.
As did nearby San Ildefonso Pueblo, where Black Mesa — separated from the pueblo by the Rio Grande (here a trickle of water fed by the Rio Chama) — holds a place in history.
The mesa is the Native American version of Israel’s Masada, a mountaintop community in the Judaean Desert whose entire population committed mass suicide rather than fall to Roman forces.
Black Mesa’s fate during the Pueblo Revolt wasn’t quite as dire. In 1694, the months-long standoff between Pueblo warriors encamped on the summit and Spanish invaders led not to mass suicide, but to a decade of Pueblo independence after they succeeded in repelling the Spanish. Today, Black Mesa is regarded as a sacred place.
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On the lighter side, our pit stop at Bode’s Mercantile & General Store in Abiquiu was a reminder of one-stop shopping on the Western frontier. In business since 1891, Bode’s served as both a general store and post office. And since Abiquiu was the starting point of the Old Spanish Trail, it also served as a stagecoach stop, and for those who got a bit unruly, a jail.
Our final destination, Ghost Ranch, was a revelation, despite O’Keefe’s home not being open to the public. Instead, I spent time photographing the vibrant red and yellow cliffs; learning about the dinosaurs that once roamed the area (Ghost Ranch contains the largest concentration of Triassic fossils in North America), and listening to the fascinating saga of the Archuleta brothers, possibly the Old West’s first known serial killers. During the 1880s, the brothers lived here and made their livelihood rustling cattle and horses, while at the same time disposing of unsuspecting ranchers who wandered too close to their hideout.
The adage “there is no honor among thieves” proved especially true for the siblings when following a dispute over buried gold, one brother killed the other, and then was himself hung from a cottonwood tree by local citizens determined to be rid of their reign of terror.
In between the Archuletas and O’Keefe, Ghost Ranch played host to other famous folk although at the time the staff didn’t know it. In the 1940s, a group of mysterious men showed up every weekend to conduct who knows what business behind closed doors.
It wasn’t until later that their identities became known and their purpose revealed. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and Niels Bohr were among those engaged in building the world’s first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, a few miles from the ranch.
Since 1957 when musician and conductor John Crosby brought a performance of the opera “Madama Butterfly” to New Mexico’s high desert, the Sangre de Cristos have echoed with the sound of music.
The stunning Santa Fe Opera House sits in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. (Kate Russell/Santa Fe Opera/TNS)
Every summer, the Santa Fe Opera stages five performances at its outdoor theater where the blazing sunsets challenge the tenors, baritones and sopranos for the best performance.
This year’s lineup featured Puccini’s “La Boheme”; Wagner’s “Die Walkure”; Verdi’s “Rigoletto”; Benjamin Britten’s “Turn of the Screw,” and the one I attended, Mozart’s comic opera “The Marriage of Figaro,” fast forwarded to the late 1930s just before the onset of World War II.
In case you can’t make it before the end of this year’s season on Aug. 23, the 2026 line-up will include “Madama Butterfly,” “The Magic Flute,” “Eugene Onegin,” “Rodelinda” and the American premiere of “Lili Elbe.”
The Marriage of Figaro, updated to the 1930s, was one the operas performed during the 2025 Santa Fe Opera season. (Bronwen Sharp/Santa Fe Opera/TNS)
My hotel choice, Four Seasons Rancho Encantado, is a sponsor of the Santa Fe Opera, and in addition to assisting guests with tickets, it offers them a fun way to celebrate pre-curtain.
A curated tailgate dinner in the shadow of the mountains is a memorable prequel to the evening’s performance.
Also memorable at the 65-casita resort, a former dude ranch 10 minutes from downtown Santa Fe, are the property’s 10,000-square-foot spa with its 15 treatment rooms and four private courtyards, and the signature restaurant, Terra.
At the former, I luxuriated in the Earth to Sky full body massage incorporating a grounding earth foot scrub and a nourishing sun warm oil scalp treatment – the very definition of bliss.
At the latter, I watched another of New Mexico’s incomparable sunsets while dining on the robust flavors of regional New Mexican dishes (Baby Back Ribs with chili barbeque, fennel coleslaw and serrano cornbread) and trying not to ogle the A-list movie star dining two tables away.
The “Once within a Time” exhibition at Site Santa Fe mixes fairy tale atmosphere with apocalyptic landscapes. (Shayla Blatchford/Site Santa Fe/TNS)
While it was tempting to spend all my time roaming the landscaped grounds of the Rancho Encantado, I did spend one morning in town taking in the “Once Within a Time” exhibition (through Jan. 12, 2026) at Site Santa Fe. Mixing fairy tale atmospheres with apocalyptic landscapes, it both inspires and disturbs.
Brunch at the delightful Dolina Café, where the dishes marry New Mexican staples and Eastern European favorites, was indeed a fairy tale of a culinary nature.
Think Hungarian goulash combined with a breakfast burrito and a choice of red or green chiles.) Incongruous? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely.
But I expected no less. This is the Land of Enchantment, after all.
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