It’s just a small town, not even incorporated. With Santa Fe, Taos, Los Alamos and Espanola all within 50 miles, you’d hardly know it’s here. Except that Abiquiu - named for the ruins of a Native American pueblo on which it is built - is home to national treasures you can’t find anywhere else.
The American artist Georgia O’Keeffe famously lived and painted here for nearly 50 years, and her legacy remains intact at the Ghost Ranch where she spent much of her secluded time. She made the local landscapes famous, capturing the red, yellow and gray cliffs, the Kitchen Mesa and the flat-topped Pedernal mountain on canvas. You can’t tour the ranch house O’Keeffe owned and lived in - it is and always has been private property - but you can tour her home in the Abiquiu village and see the same stunning landscapes she painted on foot or on a horseback trail ride.
Abiquiu is also near the dazzling Echo Amphitheater, a series of curved sandstone cliffs created by erosion that offer a true multi-sensory experience. The sight of them is enough to bowl you over; wait until you hear your own voice in this natural echo chamber!
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Things to know:
Region: North Central New Mexico
Related activities: The O'Keeffe Home is open to visitors, by appointment only. No photographing is permitted.
Getting there: Abiquiú is located 18 miles northwest of Española on US Highway 84.
Fun facts: After being abandoned twice since the 1500s, Abiquiu was re-settled in 1754. It is one of the last Spanish-American community grants still functioning and owned by the residents.
Photos courtesy of Ghost Ranch.
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