TAKING THE HIGH ROADS :

THE LITTLE NELL, RANCHO DE SAN JUAN, THE HOME RANCH

While all three of these mountain resort getaways have enough to entertain the most intrepid traveler for an entire week, others may want to see as much a possible of the sights and scenery surrounding these Relais & Chateaux luxurious gems. It is easy to get from one to the other in a day’s drive, stopping to see some of the shops, historical sites, and geography unique to this part of the Western United States. Slight detours will take you Vail, Taos and many other mountain communities along the way. There are hundreds of worthy explorations here. These are some of our favorites.

Beginning in bucolic Aspen, Colorado, base for the elegant The Little Nell Hotel, you should plan to spend at least a day visiting the very upscale boutiques, hiking the back country of the Rocky Mountain wilderness, sampling the summer culture or the winter skiing. Summer time unveils the Aspen Music Festival and School (www.aspenmusicfestival.com) started nearly 60 years ago by modern Aspen’s founding father Walter Paepcke. For nine weeks there is music in the mountains with daily concerts everywhere from the state-of-the-art music tent to the top of Aspen Mountain. The Aspen Institute (www.aspeninstitute.org), another Paepcke braintrust is a global forum that convenes leader from around the world to discuss policy-making along with the state of humankind. Though many of the activities are summer oriented there are public speaking programs and seminars throughout the year. Other summer favorites include the Food & Wine Festival in June and the Jazz Festival both in June and again over Labor Day. In winter, of course, Aspen’s precious commodity is powdery snow, the reason the town has long been known as one of the world’s premiere ski resorts. The Aspen Skiing Company (www.aspen/snowmass.com) consists of four magnificent ski mountains spread over a 14-mile radius - Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk/Tiehack, Aspen Highlands, and Snowmass.

Easy day drives from Aspen include Snowmass, Redstone, Colorado, and Glenwood Springs.

The town of Snowmass Village (www.snowmassvillage.com), only ten miles from downtown Aspen, is a world unto itself. It has the largest ski mountain, and a village consisting of more than 32 restaurants and 25 retail shops. In summer there are rodeos, ballooning, fishing, and hiking - something for the most stalwart outdoor enthusiast. Most recently the upscale Snowmass Club (www.snowmassclub.com) has opened a new 18-hole golf course designed by renowned golf architect, Jim Engh. It is now considered by many to be the finest course in the Roaring Fork Valley.

The village of Redstone (www.restonecolorado.com) is only a 45-minute drive from Aspen nestled along the banks of the Crystal River outside of Carbondale. Sometimes called “the Ruby of the Rockies” Redstone was a coal mining empire at the turn of the 20th-century and still retains a strong historic air these many years later. Coal mines are still in evidence along with many of the early miners cottages, a small Main Street with some fine art galleries, quaint boutiques and an astonishing 42-room Tudor-style castle built by industrialist John Cleveland Osgood in 1897.

Glenwood Springs (www.glenwoodchamber.com) is another historic town located at the north end of the Roaring Fork Valley about an hour’s drive from Aspen, Vail and Grand Junction. Glenwood is the headquarters of the White River National Forest, the largest national forest in Colorado, and has a host of outdoor activities ranging from rafting to flyfishing, biking, hiking and golfing. It may be most famous though for its historical hot springs. The Glenwood Hot Springs pool (www.hotspringspool.com) is the world’s largest. Thousands of years in the making, the hot springs were once used by the Ute Indians, who thought the pool sacred. It was established for general use in 1888. Over two blocks long, the natural mineral waters are heated to 93 degrees year round with a smaller therapy pool as warm at 104 degrees.

From Glenwood it is an easy hour’s drive along I-70 to get to the world renowned ski resort of Vail (www.vailresorts.com). Unarguably one of the world’s greatest ski mountains, Vail consists of 5,289-acres of mountain wilderness in the heart of the White River National Forest. Its Bavarian-style village is filled with shops and restaurants spilling over with visitors at every time of year and has become a sought-out destination for sportsmen, gourmands and even spa lovers. Don’t miss the Colorado Ski Museum and Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame (www.skimuseum.net) which chronicles skiing history in Colorado for more than 130 years. Learn about the men and women who founded the sport and how it has progressed from the days of rope tows through amazing new age technology.

About an hour north of Vail, heading toward The Home Ranch in Clark, Colorado, you’ll pass through yet another internationally known ski resort: Steamboat Springs (www.steamboat.com). Still a huge ranching community, Steamboat is flavored with a laid-back wild west cowboy atmosphere. Bubbling with geothermal hot springs, there are two springs in Steamboat that are open to the public including Strawberry Park Hot Springs (www.strawberryhotsprings.com) located seven miles outside of town. Here two large pools are lit only by the stars at night and are wonderfully popular with both locals and visitors. Within the Steamboat town limits be sure to take a self-guided walking tour of the wonderfully preserved historic village. Sights to see include Lyon Drug Store (www.yampavalley.info), built in 1908 out of pressed brick with one of the last great soda fountains in the country. Tread of Pioneers Museum (www.yampavalley.info) features a peroiod-furnished Victorian home which highlights the history of skiing in the area, Native American arts and ranching. Howelsen Hill (www.yampavalley.info) is named for the ski jumping character who made the sport into a recreational industry. It is where the first tow lift in Steamboat was built and later site of a 90-meter ski jump on which many past Olympians have trained.

The nearby town of Clark, Colorado (www.epodunk.com) is the location of The Home Ranch. This tiny community is believed to have been named for Worthington Clark, an old time stagecoach operator. The most wonderful thing about this retreat is that it sits in the heart of the Steamboat Lake Park, Pearl Lake State Park and Routt National Forest offering visitors hundreds of thousands of wilderness acreage for every sort of outdoor summer or winter activity . A world class equestrian center at The Home Ranch offers everyone a taste of western ranch life and for those who prefer to travel into the nearby mountains may ride horses, hike in summer or cross-country ski or snowshoe in winter.

A little more than half a day’s drive from either Aspen or Steamboat Springs will bring you to the Relais & Chateaux gem of Rancho de San Juan in Espanola, New Mexico. From Aspen you may travel over historic Independence Pass in summer. This 44-mile-long drive climbs to 12,095 feet, making it Colorado’s highest paved pass and the Continental Divide between the upper Arkansas River Valley and Aspen. Travel this way and you’ll wind your way through the communities of Buena Vista and Alamosa before heading south into New Mexico. Plan on a five hour drive, and longer if you stop to see the sights along the way.

In winter, when Independence Pass is closed, or for those traveling to Rancho de San Juan from The Home Ranch in Clark, the best and quickest route leads from I-70 to U.S. Highway 24 through the town of Minturn north of Vail and over the narrow Tennessee Pass which then drops into Leadville. This five or six-hour route will take you through Camp Hale (www.camphale.org), established in 1942 as the warfare training center during WWII for the 10th Mountain Division. Here a group of soldiers were trained in winter warfare training exercises and went on to battle in the high mountain passes in Europe. After the war many of these men became the founders of ski areas throughout the western United States including both Aspen and Vail. The Camp was abandoned in 1965 and the lands returned to the Forest Service but many of the buildings remain and it has become a stop-off point for those interested in WWII history.

After Camp Hale, the road to New Mexico leads through Leadville, Colorado (www.leadville.com), a former silver mining hub which has remained relatively unchanged over the past century. Designated as a National Historic Landmark District, Leadville is 70-square-blocks of Victorian architecture with a Main Street that has more than 50 buildings dating back to the 1870s. The town looms at more than 9,000 feet and is a perfect headquarters for those who want to hike or bike Colorado’s backcountry. Be sure to visit the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum (www.mininghalloffame.org) or try your hand on the country’s highest nine-hole golf course.

Both Independence Pass and U.S. Highway 24 will lead you into southern Colorado and past the Great Sand Dunes (www.nps.gov), North America’s tallest dunes which rise over 750 feet against the stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is only a short 20-minute detour to visit these glowing wind-shaped dunes which cover more than 30-square-miles and make a very pleasant day trip or stopping-off point for lunch.

From Rancho de San Juan in Espanola, it’s a 40 minute drive to either Taos or Santa Fe. If you have the time take the scenic Highway 76, also known as the High Road, running between the two cities.

Start in Taos (www.taoschamber.com) an enchanted city full of artists and galleries, a wonderfully diverse landscape, restaurants, and plenty of ethnic shops. A must-see in Taos is the Blue Rain Gallery (www.blueraingallery.com) with works of pueblo pottery, paintings, stone and bronze sculpture, glass art, Hopi kachina dolls and much more. If you miss it here, there is a second Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe. After browsing the sights of downtown Taos continue your journey along the High Road through apple and peach orchards, chile farms and highlands where Hispanic and Native American traditions continue the way they have for thousands of years.

About ten miles east of Espanola you’ll come to the lowlands weaving village of Chimayo. Among Chimayo’s many charms is the El Santuario de Chimayo: The Lourdes of America (www.roadsideamerica.com). The story is that around 1810, a Chimayo friar saw a light on a hillside and upon investigation dug up a crucifix which he then brought into Santa Cruz. Three times it disappeared and was found back in its hole in Chimayo. Eventually a small chapel was built on the site and today the crucifix and the “sacred sand pit” have spawned numerous pilgrimages. More than 300,000 visit the shrine each year. If you’re more interested in the great weaving traditions of this part of the country visit Ortega’s Weaving Shop (ortegasweaving.com), the product of nine generation of weavers and a place where you may have a one-of-a-kind rug or garment made especially for you.

Ultimately the High Road will lead you to Santa Fe (www.santafe.org), 38 miles from Rancho de San Juan, a high-desert city at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Known also as “The City Different,” Santa Fe is a place of beauty; of brilliant sunsets, sage brush deserts and intense sunshine. It remains tri-cultural with restaurants, museums and sites devoted in equal measures to the Spanish, Americans and Native Americans living in the area. Santa Fe continues to be one of the only cities in the country whose economy is actually based on the arts. Galleries line the plaza and side streets for miles, including dozens along Canyon Road. In town, don’t miss the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (O’Keeffemuseum.org), a tribute to the iconic artist who lived and painted in Santa Fe in the early part of the 20th-century until her death. Outside on the patio of the Palace of the Governors a daily bazaar serves as a place for Native Americans to display their pottery, turquoise, jewelry, weavings and more each morning throughout the year. If you’re very lucky you may have the chance to witness a wedding taking place in the Loretto Chapel (www.lorettochapel.com), a delicate and enticing Romanesque style church notable particularly for the astonishing spiraling series of steps leading to the choir loft that makes two full 360 degree turns with no visible means of support.

From Santa Fe, outdoor enthusiasts should go straight through the city and follow signs leading to Bandelier National Monument (www.nps.gov) where 70 miles of hiking and backpacking trails lead to Anasazi ruins, cave dwellings and ancient petroglyphs. The park has more than 23,000-acres of wilderness terrain and is known for its mesas, sheer-walled canyons and lovely desert landscapes. It is one of the most popular open spaces in northern New Mexico.

Only 18 miles to the west of Espanola, the tiny town of Abiquiu offers its own set of charms. Here you’ll find the actual home and former studio (not to be confused with the Santa Fe museum) of artist Georgia O’Keeffe (www.cr.nps.gov). One of the most important artistic sites in the southwest, the buildings and views which inspired O’Keeffe’s paintings are something to see. Run by the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, the house is open for tours only by prior appointment. Book in advance since they are also very limited. Another famous Abiquiu site is the Plaza Blanca and Dar al-Islam Mosque (www.newmexico.org) tucked away into the hills of the Rio Chama valley. It seems unusual to find an Islamic mosque in the heart of Hispanic and Native American territory, but the church is a wonderful adobe structure, one of the largest in the United States, and is topped by a sculpted dome that fits right into its desert environment. It was built in 1981 by renowned Egyptian architect Hassan Fathi and today serves as a retreat and workshop area for Moslems and non-Moslems who come to study with visiting scholars.

These few sidelines only touch on all the beauty and pastimes to be found in and around the towns of these three western Relais & Chateaux properties. For more information check with the concierges of each resort and discover all that awaits you in this exciting and diverse region.

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS : nearby Relais & Chateaux properties