Jemez Mountain Trail
Jemez Mountain Trail is a National Scenic Byway in New Mexico. Within New Mexico it covers roughly 130 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Jemez Mountain Trail with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
State Route 4 winds through the Jemez Mountains northwest of Albuquerque, past red sandstone canyons, the travertine Soda Dam, and the steaming hot springs around Jemez Springs. Higher up it skirts the Valles Caldera, a vast grassy bowl that is the collapsed crater of an ancient supervolcano, and the cliff dwellings of Bandelier National Monument. Red rock, forest, and volcanic landscape mix along the route.
- Valles Caldera
- Bandelier cliff dwellings
- Jemez Springs & Soda Dam
- red rock canyons
- SR-4
Designated for its recreational qualities
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Places to stop along Jemez Mountain Trail
Jemez Pueblo
The single village of Walatowa, home of the Jemez people. Stop at the Walatowa Visitor Center; the pueblo itself opens to visitors only on feast days.
WebsiteJemez Springs
A canyon village whose 1870s bathhouse still offers soaks in the natural hot springs.
WebsiteJemez Historic Site
The stone ruins of the Giusewa pueblo and a massive 1620s Spanish mission church, set against red canyon walls.
Fenton Lake State Park
A small trout lake in ponderosa forest with camping, accessible fishing platforms, and cross-country ski trails in winter.
Valles Caldera National Preserve
A 13-mile-wide volcanic caldera of grassy valleys where large elk herds graze, with a visitor center and backcountry roads.
WebsiteBandelier National Monument
Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings carved into soft volcanic tuff; the main loop trail includes ladders up into the alcoves.
WebsiteBradbury Science Museum
A free museum in Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project and the national laboratory's science since.
WebsiteCuba
A high-desert village at the byway's northern end, beneath the Sierra Nacimiento and famously dark night skies.
Where to Stay along Jemez Mountain Trail
10 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Jemez Mountain Trail.
Campsite, lodging, RV rental and membership links are affiliate links — booking through them may earn Road Sorties a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Recreation.gov links are not affiliate links.
Photos of Jemez Mountain Trail
What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.