The city of Santa Fe in New Mexico has announced that it is offering traveling families a different sort of vacation this summer by exploring centuries old Anasazi villages to explore, as well as by biking, river rafting and hiking.
Santa Fe boasts various attractions for families.
The Museum of International Folk Art has more than 10,000 pieces of folk art from all over the world in the Girard Wing alone. Regularly voted Santa Fe's "Best Museum," the Folk Art museum houses the world's largest collection of cross-cultural traditional folk art from dolls, puppets and masks to textiles, ceramics and Spanish colonial folk art. Music, drama, dance, storytelling and material culture of more than 100 countries is presented in life-size interactive exhibits, cultural festivals and hands-on activities.
The Museum of Indian Art and Culture presents the history of the Americas and the American Southwest through two millennia. The permanent display, "Here Now and Always" gives a look at the evolution of the American Indian in the Southwest through installations, artifacts and video. The museum's Discovery Room for kids is filled with hands on and learning exhibits including foam adobe building rocks to create a ruin.
During July and August, the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture take turns hosting “Kids Alive!” every Thursday. These free events offer arts and crafts centered around Native American art, like pottery or weaving, and folk art. Coming up this summer at the folk art museum is “Tako Kichi: Kite Crazy in Japan”, a show that will include kite-making workshops and kite flying on the plaza at Museum Hill.
The Randall Davey Audubon Center is the old home and grounds of artist Randall Davey, and it offers 135 acres of hiking and interpretive trails through a preserved historic property. More challenging hiking terrain is easily had in the Santa Fe National Forest.
For mountain biking, Santa Fe offers the Dale Ball trailhead at the top of Upper Canyon Road, and the La Tierra Trail system.
New Mexico History Museum is Santa Fe’s newest museum, opened in 2009, and it holds some of the city’s oldest treasures. The adjacent Palace of the Governors built in 1610, the museum offers interactive exhibitions as it tells the stories of New Mexico’s past. Coming beginning April 2013 will be Cowboys Real & Imagined, about the rise of America’s folk hero including musical performances and Western movies filmed in New Mexico.
Santa Fe also has 19 Pueblo tribes scattered around the state, including the eight Northern Indian Pueblos. These centuries-old communities are a living link with the most indigenous of US peoples and reveal much about the tribe's past and present.