Pop. 71,831
GPS: 35°40'N 105°57'W

Santa Fe is straight out of the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe: With Native American ruins, Spanish colonial churches, and red adobe buildings, this high desert art community is set at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills. It annually hosts the largest Native American arts market—the Indian Market—in the world.

Trek the steep Canyon Trail for a breathtaking view of the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, a collection of cone-shaped pink and gray striped sandstone "tents." You can also raft through some Class II and III whitewater in White Rock Canyon (from $53 for a half-day trip; kokopelliraft.com). Another option is to hike the 1.2 or 2.2 loops to Bandelier National Monument. In Bandelier, you can check out Native American ceramics and art collections in the National Monument Museum, which reopens after Memorial Day 2010.

Café Pasqual's makes huevos motuleños—eggs over easy on corn tortillas with black beans, topped with sautéed bananas, feta cheese, green peas, and salsa fresca—will blow you away (pasquals.com). True loyalists say the green chile cheeseburger at Tia Sophia’s is the best burger in the U.S. of A. (505-983-9880).

Hotel Santa Fe is run by the Picuris Pueblos, and its in-house restaurant offers gourmet meals in a private canvas teepee (doubles from $139; hotelsantafe.com).