New Mexico's 52-mile Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway, or simply the “Turquoise Trail,” is a popular alternative to Interstate 25 if you're venturing between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Highway 14 east of the Sandia Mountains traverses a broad, high desert and low rolling hills with long views of mountains in the distance. This dry country of pinion-juniper, brushy grasslands and too much dirt has played host to adventurers of all walks of life including pre-Columbian Native Americans, Spanish conquistadors, Mexicans during a time of Mexican supremacy, and more recently Anglo-Americans. Two small towns in particular along the Turquoise Trail are worthy of this popular detour; Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid) and Cerrillos, about 25 miles south of Santa Fe. These little gems are rich in history, rich in lore, and like so much of the American Southwest are seeped in a mining tradition that reaches back to A.D. 1,500 and beyond.

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