Taos Pueblo has been lived in for roughly a thousand years, which makes it one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. The core of it is a pair of multi-story adobe buildings, North House and South House, which rise in stepped terraces against the backdrop of Taos Mountain. A small stream, the Red Willow Creek, runs between them, bringing water from the Sangre de Cristo range, and that stream is the reason the people settled here in the first place.
The pueblo is home to the Taos people, who speak a Tiwa language and have kept many of their traditions through Spanish rule, Mexican rule and the arrival of the United States. In 1680 the pueblos of the Rio Grande joined together in a revolt against the Spanish that drove the colonists out for more than a decade, and Taos was one of its centers. The village was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992, and its adobe walls are still re-plastered by hand every year. The church of San Geronimo, with its low whitewashed facade, stands close to the plaza.
The ride from Santa Fe is a highlight of northern New Mexico. The High Road, via Chimayo, Truchas and Las Trampas, winds through old Hispanic villages with adobe churches, apple orchards and steep views toward the mountains. It is narrow and curvy, with sharp turns and the occasional dirt shoulder, and it is quiet outside harvest time. The faster option is Highway 68 along the Rio Grande Gorge, with sheer basalt walls and the river far below. Near Taos, the Gorge Bridge crosses a canyon about six hundred feet deep, and the view from the walkway is staggering.
A few rules apply at the pueblo itself. Visitors pay an entrance fee, may pay extra to take photographs, and are asked to stay out of private homes and the cemetery. The pueblo sometimes closes to visitors for ceremonies or tribal events, so check ahead. At that altitude of about seven thousand feet, the sun is strong and the evening can be cool.
Taos itself, a few miles south, has fuel, cafes and galleries. Try the fresh bread baked in the outdoor horno ovens at the pueblo, a small thing that tastes of real place.