Santa Fe overflows with so many art galleries, restaurants and museums that you could fill weeks discovering them all. But the surrounding region of sculptural mesas and arroyo-carved plains deserves time too. It quickly becomes obvious why so many people, ranging from ancient Indigenous inhabitants to modern artists, have regarded it as sacred. Whatever one’s beliefs, the grandeur of the desert is sure to make an impression.

Hiking at Ghost Ranch

While my traveling companion and I had previously visited Ghost Ranch, about an hour northwest of downtown, we returned to the desert — just as O’Keeffe often did — to reconnect with the beauty of the land and to feel something greater than ourselves.