Madrid on the Turquoise Trail

Madrid grew up around coal, and unusually rich coal at that, with seams of both soft and hard coal close together, feeding the railroads and the region's growing towns. It became a true company town, its cabins, stores, and services owned by the mining company, and at its peak thousands of people lived and worked in the valley.

The town was known for more than mining. In the years before World War II it staged elaborate Christmas light displays, so bright that airlines were said to reroute flights so passengers could see them. But as the nation turned from coal to oil and gas, the mines faltered, and after the war the town collapsed. By the 1950s Madrid was nearly deserted, its cabins standing empty in the desert sun.

For a couple of decades Madrid was a genuine ghost town, its houses reportedly offered for sale cheap with almost no takers. Then, beginning in the 1970s, artists and others looking for cheap space and an unconventional life began buying and fixing up the abandoned cabins.

Over time they turned the old company town into a thriving arts community. The former miners' cabins became galleries, studios, jewelry shops, and cafes, and the town took on a lively, offbeat spirit. Madrid has since appeared on screen and drawn steady streams of visitors, but at its heart it remains a small working village of makers along a quiet mountain road.

Madrid is the star stop on the Turquoise Trail, a designated scenic byway that runs along the old back route between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, in the shadow of the Sandia and Ortiz mountains. The road is named for the turquoise, and the coal, gold, and silver, mined in these hills over the centuries.

The byway strings together a chain of old mining places. Cerrillos, just up the road, is a dusty, movie-set of a village where turquoise was dug long before the Spanish arrived, and Golden marks the site of one of the first gold rushes west of the Mississippi. Driving the whole trail turns a visit to Madrid into a slow tour of New Mexico's mining past.

Madrid is a strolling town. You park once and wander the main street on foot, ducking into galleries and studios, catching live music on a weekend, and pausing for a bite at one of the cafes. Give it an unhurried hour or two rather than a quick drive-through.

Spring and fall bring the most comfortable weather and, on weekends, a lively scene. Summer is warm and busiest, with events and music, while winter is quieter and cooler, a chance to see the old cabins under a dusting of snow. Whenever you come, the mix of history, art, and mountain road is the draw.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.