The Atlas Obscura Guide To Santa Fe

23 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Updated October 8, 2024

Unusual Attractions in Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico

House of Eternal Return

An immersive environment that is part haunted house, part choose-your-own-adventure, and part jungle gym.

New Mexico

Ra Paulette's Hand-Carved Caves

One man has carved a number of natural New Mexico caves into psychedelic sandstone temples.

Collection of rock art at La Cieneguilla

Santa Fe, New Mexico

La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site

These Pre-Columbian petroglyphs contain representations of birds, deer, hunters, and even some early Native flute players.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Ethyl the Whale

Life-sized sculpture of a blue whale made of hand-recycled plastic trash.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Loretto Chapel

Wedding chapel's mysterious spiral staircase said to be miraculously constructed.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Girard Wing

A sprawling collection of over 106,000 toys from around the world.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Burning of Zozobra

Setting this massive marionette aflame rids Santa Fe of doom and gloom for another year.

Shatter cones in the Santa Fe impact structure.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe Shatter Cones

The shattered remnants of a meteor that struck Santa Fe more than a billion years ago.

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In the arid and remote expanses of New Mexico's landscape, booms and zooms abound. From the volatile effects of the Manhattan Project to the otherworldly possibilities of Roswell's UFO, the Land of Enchantment has never shied away from the controversial or far-reaching. Here are several places to encounter those legacies across this southwestern state.

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