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The Atlas/New Mexico/El Santuario de Chimayo

El Santuario de Chimayo

Built in 1816 of hand-packed adobe, El Santuario de Chimayó is a National Historic Landmark and the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the United States, drawing nearly 300,000 visitors per year. Tucked into a hillside village on the High Road to Taos (NM-76 corridor), the twin-towered church and its courtyard are immediately identifiable. Inside a small adjoining room, a hole in the floor contains what pilgrims call sacred healing soil. Motorcyclists riding the High Road use Chimayó as a natural rest and photo stop — parking is steps from the church and the village has several artisan galleries and weavers nearby.

New Mexico
Region
Attraction
Stop type
Standalone stop
Atlas
// Why riders stop

The High Road's most iconic pull-off — a 200-year-old adobe shrine in a canyon village with authentic New Mexican craft shops and the best red chile weavings in the state.

// Rider photos

Shot by the riders who've run it.

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// Nearby & related
StopNew Mexico
Mexican Canyon Trestle Vista
New Mexico
The Mexican Canyon Trestle Vista is a USFS day-use pullout on US-82 approximately half a mile northwest of Cloudcroft, offering a direct view of the 1899 Mexican Canyon railroad trestle — a 97-foot-tall wooden curved bridge listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An interpretive plaque explains the 'Cloud Climbing Railroad' that once hauled lumber from the Sacramento Mountains. The pullout has ample parking and restrooms, and sits at roughly 8,600 feet with sweeping canyon views. Riders ascending from Alamogordo on US-82 often stop here to photograph the trestle before entering Cloudcroft village.
StopNew Mexico
Rancho de Chimayo Restaurante
New Mexico
Rancho de Chimayó Restaurante occupies a 19th-century hacienda at 300 Juan Medina Rd in Chimayó, a quarter mile from the Santuario. A James Beard Foundation American Classics Award winner, the restaurant serves northern New Mexican staples — carne adovada, chile rellenos, posole — using house-made red and green chile. The covered outdoor patio on the acequia (irrigation ditch) is the preferred seating for riders arriving in warmer months. Open since 1965, it is consistently cited as the defining dining stop on the High Road to Taos corridor.
RallyNew Mexico
Revive The Ride
New Mexico
Revive The Ride is an annual motorcycle rally held in Red River, NM over Memorial Day weekend, billed as a large veterans appreciation event centered at The Motherlode Saloon on Main Street. It evolved from the former Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally after the town discontinued its official promotion of the original event. Organized by The Hideout Rally, the event draws riders through the Enchanted Circle loop (US-64 / NM-38 / NM-522) — one of New Mexico's premier high-mountain motorcycle routes — with Red River at its center.