Visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital city of New Mexico and a wonderful place. With 70,000 full-time residents, it charmingly hosts a million and half visitors every year. The town started as a Native American settlement around 900 b.c., and was later invaded by the Spanish around the 1500’s.  Santa Fe is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) cities in America, where history and culture have developed for centuries. Since Santa Fe is an historic city, some wheelchair accessibility is questionable, like narrow doorways and ramp access and some places may not be up to code or it may be impossible to do so.

Santa Fe is a peaceful city with many interesting and awe-inspiring treasures. In fact, I hear there is an actual treasure hunt going on. Dozens of local and world-famous artists and galleries are showcased on Canyon Road, with painting, photography, sculpture, weaving, jewelry, etc.. Santa Fe is one of the largest art markets in the country, so explore. Around the center square of town in Santa Fe, is the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which displays her artwork beautifully and is also wheelchair friendly. A lot more accessible is the artist area known as the Santa Fe Railyard Arts District. This area is flat with smoothly, paved walkways and curb cutouts. Nearby is the Railyard Park with a 2.4-mile paved bike trail that’s nice and flat for wheelchairs and also passes the river; statues and other art can be viewed along the trail.  

Gil’s Blog offers plenty of advice on places to eat.  One of my favorite New Mexican restaurants, which happens to be only a few hundred accessible feet from the ‘Santa Fe Depot’ Rail Runner Station, is called “Tomasita’s.” Moreover, Gil says that Santa Fe is reported to have “the greatest diversity and number of restaurants per capita of any city in America.”

Among other wintertime traditions, are the “luminarias” (the brown paper bags with sand and twinkling candles).  This Christmas tradition was introduced by Spanish settlers and has been happening for centuries.  Winter is a snowy and festive time in Santa Fe. If skiing is your thing, the resort Ski Santa Fe is about 15 miles from town, in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  The Adaptive Ski Program has been helping children and adults with various abilities for nearly 30 years.  Be sure to contact them in advance.  

Getting Around

North on I-25, Santa Fe is only about 60 minutes away from Albuquerque.  Or, you can cruise a less crowded highway with a few small towns on the east side of the mountains, called Highway 14 or the Turquoise Trail.  You can even take the local commuter train, the Rail Runner, which has a few major stops throughout town, and shuttles that can take you to more locations. If needing accessible transportation, the Corazon Concierge offers private transportation with a wheelchair accessible van.