The church at Ranchos de Taos is one of the most photographed buildings in the American Southwest, and it deserves it. San Francisco de Asis is an adobe mission with massive buttresses, rounded and sculptural, that seem to flow out of the ground. Georgia O'Keeffe painted it several times, Ansel Adams photographed it, and generations of artists have tried to get its shape right. Every year or so, the community re-plasters it with fresh mud in a tradition that goes back generations, so what you see is partly the work of recent hands.
The village sits at the southern edge of the Taos Valley, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising to the east and the vast sagebrush plain running west to the Rio Grande gorge. It is old farmland, once worked by Taos Pueblo and then by Spanish settlers in the eighteenth century, and a few ranches still graze the fields. The mountains on a clear morning are a strong blue, and the light is the reason so many painters settled here.
On the bike, Ranchos de Taos is the end of the High Road, the point where New Mexico 76 reaches the main highway, and the ride from Truchas and Las Trampas leaves you well prepared for a break. The road in is relaxed, and traffic through the village slows to a crawl on summer days, when tour buses and visitors crowd the church square. Go early for a quieter experience, and treat the pedestrians and cyclists with care. The high-desert wind can be strong across the open land, particularly in spring, and thunderstorms in summer arrive in the afternoons.
This is a good place to refuel in every sense. Taos, only six kilometres away, is a proper town with stations, restaurants, and supplies, and Ranchos de Taos has a number of small cafes and galleries of its own. If you can, walk around the back of the church, where the buttresses are most dramatic, and respect the notices about photography and services inside. Autumn is the best season, with clear air and golden cottonwoods along the creeks, and winter brings snow to the mountains and a quiet beauty to the valley.