If you are going to do one day trip from Santuario Grande, make it the Jemez. Highway 4 through the Jemez Mountains is legitimately one of the most beautiful drives in the United States — and in July, with the monsoon just beginning to green up the canyon, it is extraordinary.

The route passes through Jemez Canyon — a dramatic gorge of red and orange volcanic rock. The first major stop is Soda Dam, a bizarre and beautiful natural travertine formation where warm mineral springs have built a dam across the river. The water pooling behind it is turquoise and warm.

Continue up to Jemez Springs village, then higher still to the Valles Caldera — a 13-mile-wide volcanic crater now a national preserve, its grasslands running with elk.

Leave early, take it slow, and let New Mexico do its thing.