National Geographic Adventure
No travel company in the Southwest blends hard adventure and cushy comfort as well as Santa Fe Mountain Adventures. The group scouts the area’s newest and coolest activities (this year it’s llama trekking through the ponderosa-shaded-wilderness of the Sangre de Cristos), then crafts custom itineraries for descerning travelers ($129 a day; www.santafemountainadventures.com). It’s the perfect solution for those who want to come home from their weekend or weeklong trips recharged, not wrung out. SFMA cases everything from whitewater rafting services to adventure spas to historical tour guides. Choose between angling for brown trout in the clear Pecos River or rafting the Rio Grande; hiking six miles up Raven’s Ridge for views of the Sangre de Cristos or biking the twisty, rolling singletrack of the Windsor Trail; a yoga and massage-therapy session or a chili-cooking class. The trip menu is as extensive as a New York diner’s, but even the new and exotic offerings—such as the astronomy tutorials—have been taste-tested and approved.
