Attractions and Places To See in San Miguel County - Top 6

Sweeping views of the impressive mesas standing in the landscape, here from the crest of the straight line road as it rises and drops without attempting to circumvent any of the contour changes.

The Skyline Trail is the longest trail in the Pecos Wilderness. It runs along mountain ridges and also passes through the Carson National Forests and Santa Fe National Forests. It is suitable for experienced hikers in good physical condition because it touches very high elevations. I recommend to hike in the morning to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.

The trail leading to Hermit Peak is rather steep and passes first through forested, then rocky areas. Unfortunately as a result of extensive fires the forest has been partly destroyed by flames and even the trail is sometimes lost, but with the help of komoot the peak is easy to reach.

Pecos Pueblo, the mission ruins and the Visitors Center are the National Historical Park's main unit, located in western San Miguel County, about 17 miles (27 km) east of Santa Fe and just south of Pecos. Also known historically as Cicuye, the first Pecos pueblo was one of two dozen rock-and-mud villages built in the valley around AD 1100 in the prehistoric Pueblo II Era. Within 350 years the Pueblo IV Era Pecos village had grown to house more than 2,000 people in its five-storied complex. The main unit also protects the remains of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos, a Spanish mission near the pueblo built in the early 17th century. A 1.25-mile (2 km) self-guiding trail begins at the visitor center and winds through the ruins of Pecos Pueblo and the mission church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_National_Historical_Park

The Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula ("Mission of Our Lady of the Angels of Porciúncula") was a mission that served the people of the Pecos Pueblo, near modern Pecos, New Mexico, from sometime around 1619. The first church at the Pecos Pueblo was probably built by the Franciscan Fray Pedro Zambrano Ortiz by 1619, an isolated building on a narrow ridge about 440 yards (400 m) northeast of the pueblo's main quadrangle. The people of the pueblo would not allow construction of a church closer to their dwellings. In 1625, a more permanent church was constructed outside the walls of the pueblo of Pecos, New Mexico. The church building was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, wherein the Spanish were ejected from New Mexico. After the Spanish reconquest in 1693, a smaller church was built in 1717. The walls of this later church still stand on top of the earlier church's stone foundation. The ruins are located some 20 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico, off I-25 in Pecos National Historic Park. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_National_Historical_Park

Interesting break-stop: the old Pecos Pueblos and the mission church.

Pecos National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the U.S. state of New Mexico about 17 miles (27 km) east of Santa Fe. It was originally designated Pecos National Monument on June 28, 1965. It preserves the ruins of Pecos (Ciquique) Pueblo. The first Pecos pueblo was one of two dozen rock-and-mud villages built in the valley around AD 1100 in the prehistoric Pueblo II Era. Within 350 years the Pueblo IV Era Pecos village had grown to more than 2,000 people in its five-storied complex. Ciquique was visited by expeditionaries with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. The Spanish mission church, Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos, was built in 1619. A traditional kiva was built in front of the church during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 as a rejection of the Christian religion of Spanish colonists. The Spanish returned in 1692, the last inhabitants moved to Jemez pueblo in 1838. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_National_Historical_Park