- Eagle's nest lake is a good sized cold water lake with large trout. Its pretty reasonable to rent a pontoon boat and spend a half day out there trying your luck, but book the boat ahead of time. 1hr drive, Eagle Nest.
- Fly fishing the Red river can be done on your own, or on a guided tour. Taos fly shop runs guided tours with advanced bookings. To go it alone, I recommend stopping in at Sitzmark sports in Red river for custom tied flies, advice, and a fishing license. 1hr drive, Red river
- El Salto preserve just past Arroyo Seco is a private nature preserve thats worth the $10 to get in. If there have been recent rains, the waterfall is spectacular, otherwise it is a relatively easy hike in a beautiful forest. You have to hike into the trail a bit to get to the fee box to deposit your $10 and tear off the piece to stick in your car windshield. 20 min drive, Arroyo Seco
- There is a strenuous but relatively short trail "Williams Lake Trail" to the left side of the Taos Ski Valley lodge that takes you to the summit of Wheeler peak, which is the highest point in New Mexico at 13,167ft. 30 min drive, Taos Ski Valley
- Taos Ski Valley is the main attraction here- lots of steep and powdery high altitude terrain. 30 min drive
- Red river ski area is more reasonable and more approachable, but you will need to leave the ski area for more things in town. 1hr drive, Red River
- Enchanted Forest is a cross country and snowshoeing area that is just great. Nice staff, simple to rent gear, and they have a dog-friendly snowshoe trail. 1hr drive Red River
- In Red river there are various operators that will rent you a side by side atv. You can drive it around any road in Red river except the main road. The trails up the mountain on the ski area side tend to be tricky and scary for inexperienced riders, but there are a few forest roads that are an easier ride. There is a little park called Mallette park in Red river along a forest road that is a great place to have a picnic next to the river, or a short walk through the ferns. 1hr drive, Red River
- Black Rock Hot Spring is a fairly popular hot spring accessible by parking at the John Dunn bridge and doing a short walk along the Rio Grande. 30 min drive, El Prado
- Manby Hot Spring is unfortunately no longer accessible at the end of Tune Drive (this road). An experienced trail breaker could follow the Rio Grande on foot or by raft from the John Dunn bridge to get there though, since the hot spring itself isn't closed. There is not really a trail and the terrain is very rough along the river.
- There are a number of seasonal Rio Grande rafting operators doing twice daily trips from the Rio Grande Gorge visitor center in Pilar. These range from a whitewater adventure to a relaxing float down the river. 40 min drive, Pilar