11-Nights Southwest Native Trails End Santa Fe with Balloon Fiesta

11 nights from: $4,550

Southwest Native Trails End Santa Fe With Balloon Fiesta
This complete immersion in Native American Cultural Heritage will delight anyone who is interested in this rare opportunity to delve deeper into the captivating culture, traditions and history of the Ancestral Puebloans who once thrived in America's Southwest landscapes. This itinerary will include the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, the largest hot air balloon festival in the U.S., and end in Santa Fe.


Dining Summary

• 11 Breakfast (B)
• 2 Lunch (L)
• 4 Dinner (D)
• 1 Welcome Reception (WR)

• Santa Fe: Visit Nambé Pueblo, a Native American community in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains famous for its public ceremonies and traditions, strong agriculture, traditional textiles and world-renowned pottery. Once the primary cultural and religious center for the northern New Mexican pueblo communities, Nambé Pueblo has existed at this site since the 14th century. Take in the sprawling land of nearly 20,000 acres of towering cottonwoods, junipers, scrub oak and an occasional outcropping of sandstone on your cultural visit including lunch with the community elders.

• : Visit Trujillo's weaving shop and admire the New Mexico weaving tradition that dates back to Spanish Colonial times. Learn about the Trujillo family, whose members have been weavers in the Chimayo tradition for eight generations.

• Albuquerque: Home to one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.
• Albuquerque: Visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, gateway to the 19 Pueblos. Learn about the pueblo from ancient times to modern day through the museum and art galleries.
• : See the graceful red sandstone arch geological formation for which the capital is named Tségháhoodzání (Window Rock). The small Memorial Tribal Park is not only home to Window Rock, but also to the Veterans Memorial, built to honor the many Navajo people who served in the U.S. military.
• Canyon De Chelly National Monument: See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire.
• Bluff: Visit Hovenweep National Monument, one of the most intriguing pre-historic settlements in the Southwest, known for its six major villages and more than 300 additional sites within the National Monument.
• Mesa Verde National Park: There’s no better place to learn about the ancient cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people than at Mesa Verde National Park. View the carvings in the sandstone of the canyon walls at the several hundred of these dwellings – astounded by the history presented before you. This UNESCO-listed park also features thousands of well-known preserved archaeological sites. Take in the sites of this protected area as you ride along the Mesa Top Loop and Cliff Palace Loop, where you can see the magnificent Cliff Palace.
• Taos: Experience Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark and artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants, and 21 landmarks.
• Taos: Explore Taos Pueblo with Local Specialists who call Taos Pueblo home. Gain insight into the history of the pueblo and what it is like to live there today.
• : Cross the Rio Grande Bridge, a steel deck arch bridge, roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande and one of the highest bridges in the United States.
• Taos: Journey through arid landscapes as you travel along High Road, a cultural and geographical feast for the eyes. Arrive in Santa Fe, the 'City Different' and one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, as City of Design and City of Crafts and Folk Art.
• Albuquerque: Over nine days in October, the much-anticipated sight of colorful balloons punctuate Albuquerque's skyline. During this season, the sky is bluer, the days are gentler and the mornings crisper, and on the desert’s warm breath sails the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

• Chaco Canyon National Historic Park: Stop at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Visitor Center, and enjoy a picnic lunch with a Local Specialist.
• Canyon De Chelly National Monument: Meet a Navajo Local Specialist and take 6X6 vehicles to the bottom of Canyon De Chelly for the most incredible natural sites.
• Monument Valley: Immerse yourself in the landscape of the Navajo people journeying through the desert to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park accessing roads, places, sites that are closed to the general public. Get a feel for the land and its people climbing aboard an open-air, all-terrain vehicle to explore the valley with your Navajo guide as you pass its towering sandstone buttes and mesas, many of which have been featured in prominent Western films including John Wayne’s ‘Stagecoach’. Your exclusive Navajo Tribal Park tour with a Navajo guide helps preserve the integrity of the land and culture. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reducing Inequalities.
• : Visit the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum, Southwest Colorado's leading archaeological museum, displaying exhibits on archaeology, local history and Native American cultures.
• Santa Fe: Meet Emigdio Ballon the agricultural director at the Tesuque Pue
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Certain ancient places—the Egyptian pyramids come to mind—capture the imagination with their enduring majesty and mystery. Chaco Canyon is one of those places. Located in the northwest corner of the state, these ruins were built over a period of three centuries (AD 900-1200) and are considered one of the pinnacles of Ancestral Pueblo culture. At its peak, Chaco Canyon was the center of a vast trade network that spread over a large portion of the Southwest. The park includes 13 major pueblos, a network of once-busy highways, and hundreds of smaller sites. The surrounding area has 2,000-plus ruins scattered across an area of 30 sq mi/85 sq km.Free Chaco Culture National Historical Park Travel Vacation Package Quote

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Within Chaco Canyon itself, nine multistoried dwellings remain, including the best-known, Pueblo Bonito. Constructed of sandstone blocks, this enormous urban structure once had more than 650 rooms. Another highlight in the canyon is the very large kiva (ceremonial meeting hall) at Casa Rinconada.

Be aware, though, that a visit to Chaco Culture National Historical Park requires some forethought. Its location is somewhat remote, quite a distance from the nearest major highways. In fact, getting to the park, through either the north or south gates, requires driving about 20 mi/35 km of dirt road—be sure to call ahead to check on road conditions. Stop for gas, food and supplies before you turn off the main highway. Campsites are located in the park—we highly recommend an overnight stay in this ancient dwelling place. Accommodations are also available in Farmington, Gallup or Grants. 105 mi/170 km northwest of Albuquerque.