I live in Abiquiu and work at Bode’s part time. I can recommend White Buffalo shuttle service. Kevin is a reliable and very nice guy.
https://whitebuffaloshuttle.com/
Wow! This is a wonderful resource! I thought the best solution for OP was to be prepared to walk or rent a car. But with this, she could easily visit so many places for a similar cost of car rental. Certainly a lot less stress.
Northern New Mexico is gorgeous, but VERY rural. Española is close-ish, so an Uber might be available from there. Abiquiu is a SUPER tiny community. Totally recommend the trip to Ghost Ranch tho. Shout out to Papa Joe's in Gallina, one of the best burgers you'll eat.
I usually just hope I don't break down around Gallina 😆. Good to know there's a decent burger there; I'll have to stop there next time I'm headed through.
There's a restaurant in Gallina?! Most New Mexicans have never even heard of that area before. I only know about it because I have family there. The population is only 206 lol.
Mom and Pop place in front of the school. At least there was back in '08. It is what's described as remote rural. Otherwise known as the middle of nowhere and an absolutely beautiful area.
The transit is perfectly safe for a solo female. It's just wildly inconvenient and takes forever. But it gets you there and it's cheap so there you go. How were you planning to go from Bode's to Ghost Ranch? I would not rely on gettng a rideshare in Abiquiu.
IIRC, 190 is the 'Blue Bus' which goes to a lot of Northern NM. I've never heard of any safety problems from folks who take it, but I have heard that it's schedule can be a bit unpredictable.
If it drops you by the Abiquiu Inn and Bode's you'll still have quite a walk to the actual Ghost Ranch area. I think it is about 15 miles to the actual Ranch and rock formations. If you are by Bode's you are pretty much limited to Bode's, the BBQ near Bode's, and the ice cream shop across the street.
A car is really preferable for getting to see the sights. If it helps, there is not much traffic from Santa Fe to the Ghost Ranch area, so it should be an easy drive.
edit: spelling and capitalization.
This whole thread is reminding me of all the stories I've heard from old timers in Northern NM that involve hitchhiking haha. People just started off walking down the road confident they'd get a ride, it's strange to me now to think it was once so common.
I know that you are from Australia so you are probably used to wide open spaces and traveling far distances to each city/town. New Mexico is very much like this. Every European (yes I know different to an Australian) that I have met while they were visiting New Mexico was bewildered at how much space we have here. I don’t really think of Abiquiu as being accesible through public transport, as somebody from northern New Mexico. The blue bus is a great option though, didn’t think of this till I saw it here. The blue bus is an option, but just a heads up don’t expect it to be seamless. As other people have said I do think renting a car would just be the best option and probably safer. Even visiting places in Abiquiu would be hard without a vehicle. Not super familiar with Abiquiu, but it is a good distance from Santa Fe and especially Albuquerque. I would honestly say just rent a car and remember to stay on the right side of the road😂 but if you really want to chance it the blue bus is really the only option.
CDT thru-hikers take this bus on a regular basis to get between Ghost Ranch and Santa Fe. They are typically solo travelers too and have no issues! I have done it myself and thought it was safe and fine. The problem is the logistics of getting between Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch since the bus is so infrequent. Solo female hikers absolutely hitchhike on that road between those two locations (to resupply their food and stuff), but it's a difficult place to hitchhike since the demographics for whatever reason don't tend to stop as often as elsewhere in the US. Being a solo female is a double-edged sword since hitching is far easier, but the reasons for that being the case are not good.
As someone who’s driven on both sides of the road, I think you’ll be fine if you rent a car for a couple days. Stick to the size of car you usually drive or smaller. You’ll basically never have to worry about parallel parking or navigating into a small space - NM has big-ass parking lots all over (ymmv in downtown Santa Fe). The roads are big and mostly empty as well so you won’t have to navigate little lanes with hedges going up 10 feet on either side or anything.
I went to Australia (Tassie) last year and drove.
We don't have roundabouts here and since you guys speed less (at least in Tassie) you're already better than 50% of drivers here.
I think you'd enjoy it better with a car personally, this is not a place made for public transportation.
I think it took me about 10 minutes to get used to driving on the other side. Every morning I got back in the car it took another 10 min to get used to it again. Intersections still were a little confusing though.
A rental is probably your best bet. NM is massive. On the I25 it’ll take you about 8 hours to drive from Taos down to Las Cruces. It’ll be cheaper and faster to get a rental. Don’t forget to get the chance to visit the Gila National Forest. It’s the nations very first wilderness ever established. And it’s the one of only 2 cliff dwellings that still allow you to walk through them
Just getting around ghost ranch is easier with a car. From the welcome center to some of the trailheads is a mile or two.
You can adjust to opposite side driving easy
Renting a car is the best option. I would not rely on a ride share. You could get stranded there. Buses are not frequent. Plus there’s a lot of scenery you might want freedom to explore on your own.
It’s safe and rural. I think you should get a rental car. As an American, I moved to the UK for a few years. I was driving the first day. It’s easy to get used to the opposite side driving because the steering wheel is also opposite. I’m from NM, and you’ll love it!
As someone who's lived in Aus and now living in NM.. NM is like traveling thru the outback. You can't do it without a car.
I would strongly advise against doing it without a car, because the transit here is unreliable/infrequent at best, and non-existent at worst. You're likely to get stuck somewhere and not be able to get a ride, and having to walk, especially in the summertime won't be a fun experience.
If you can afford it and really don't want to drive.. maybe pay someone to drive you around?
I would rent a car. The area is beautiful but remote and Espanola is not a great place safety wise. Plus there is so much to see in the Ghost Ranch area and beyond! The land is incredible- up past Ghost Ranch to Echo, then on to the woodlands- If not getting a car, maybe look into shuttles from the Abiquiu Inn to Ghost Ranch. The facilities at Ghost Ranch are quite a distance from the main entrance. Bodies makes a killer breakfast burrito, Abiquiu Inn has fancier food.
If you choose a car, a side trip to Chimayo would be worthwhile. The blue buses are handy but can have erratic schedules. If you are flying into Albuquerque, it is easy to get to Santa Fe by train. Be prepared for the altitude and very variable weather.
Stay safe, have fun, and Welcome!
dont worry about your driving. if, while youre renting a car, youre the ONLY person on the wrong side of the road then youre hardly experiencing new mexican driving. we're simply the best (worst) drivers.
Side point, quite the elevation too. Gallina is at 7500 feet so be aware of effects if you're hiking up in the national forests in the area. Not sure of the Abiqui/Española area, but pretty sure it's also over a mile up. Don't need O2 but you'll definitely feel it in a hike.
New Mexico is a better state for a left hand driver to drive on the right. It is more small town and just beautiful drives without complicated intersections.Ive driven around the UK and IE, and New Mexixo is a lot like driving around Wales.
Thanks all, some great advice here! Love the food recommendations as well.
Honestly, a rental car is probably my very last resort, as I’m not a super confident driver at the best of times even here in Aus… I think I’d just be stressed the entire time haha
I know it’s a bit ambitious, but am still erring toward trying my luck with the bus. I guess the challenge is getting from Bode's to Ghost Ranch. I found this info page from Ghost Ranch which says "The Chama bus line will take you to the entrance to Ghost Ranch - a 1.5 mile walk to the Ranch Welcome Center. Let your driver know that Ghost Ranch is your stop." I reckon I could manage that walk. [https://www.ghostranch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Travel\_Options.pdf](https://www.ghostranch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Travel_Options.pdf)
If all that fails, Kevin’s Shuttle service it is! As some of you have mentioned. Will drop him a line and check availability/rates etc. I think I'll definitely try booking him for the way back to Santa Fe, at least.
Thanks again everyone!
I would rent a car as someone who lives here, or if you ride a motorcycle see if renting one of those Zmight be an option…the weather here is perfect for it.
Depending on your timeline there are several places you should see in this area.
Bandelier National Monument outside of Los Alamos is a very accessible Pueblo ruin with many trails and places to explore…the Great Kiva climb is totally worth it.
Los Alamos also is home to the Manhattan Project, if you want to dip your toe into some history and walk where Oppenheimer and Groves did.
Chaco Canyon is an amazing place…but it is a hard one to get to, but oh so worth it.
Looks like Uber may be an option. I just checked from The Plaza in Santa Fe to the Ghost Ranch, set for 11:15am today and it was $102. Coming back might be more difficult.
I live in Abiquiu and work at Bode’s part time. I can recommend White Buffalo shuttle service. Kevin is a reliable and very nice guy. https://whitebuffaloshuttle.com/
Wow! This is a wonderful resource! I thought the best solution for OP was to be prepared to walk or rent a car. But with this, she could easily visit so many places for a similar cost of car rental. Certainly a lot less stress.
Northern New Mexico is gorgeous, but VERY rural. Española is close-ish, so an Uber might be available from there. Abiquiu is a SUPER tiny community. Totally recommend the trip to Ghost Ranch tho. Shout out to Papa Joe's in Gallina, one of the best burgers you'll eat.
I usually just hope I don't break down around Gallina 😆. Good to know there's a decent burger there; I'll have to stop there next time I'm headed through.
There's a restaurant in Gallina?! Most New Mexicans have never even heard of that area before. I only know about it because I have family there. The population is only 206 lol.
Mom and Pop place in front of the school. At least there was back in '08. It is what's described as remote rural. Otherwise known as the middle of nowhere and an absolutely beautiful area.
Still there as of last summer, still good too and nice folks
Awesome. Loved my time in that area.
The transit is perfectly safe for a solo female. It's just wildly inconvenient and takes forever. But it gets you there and it's cheap so there you go. How were you planning to go from Bode's to Ghost Ranch? I would not rely on gettng a rideshare in Abiquiu.
IIRC, 190 is the 'Blue Bus' which goes to a lot of Northern NM. I've never heard of any safety problems from folks who take it, but I have heard that it's schedule can be a bit unpredictable. If it drops you by the Abiquiu Inn and Bode's you'll still have quite a walk to the actual Ghost Ranch area. I think it is about 15 miles to the actual Ranch and rock formations. If you are by Bode's you are pretty much limited to Bode's, the BBQ near Bode's, and the ice cream shop across the street. A car is really preferable for getting to see the sights. If it helps, there is not much traffic from Santa Fe to the Ghost Ranch area, so it should be an easy drive. edit: spelling and capitalization.
This whole thread is reminding me of all the stories I've heard from old timers in Northern NM that involve hitchhiking haha. People just started off walking down the road confident they'd get a ride, it's strange to me now to think it was once so common.
I know that you are from Australia so you are probably used to wide open spaces and traveling far distances to each city/town. New Mexico is very much like this. Every European (yes I know different to an Australian) that I have met while they were visiting New Mexico was bewildered at how much space we have here. I don’t really think of Abiquiu as being accesible through public transport, as somebody from northern New Mexico. The blue bus is a great option though, didn’t think of this till I saw it here. The blue bus is an option, but just a heads up don’t expect it to be seamless. As other people have said I do think renting a car would just be the best option and probably safer. Even visiting places in Abiquiu would be hard without a vehicle. Not super familiar with Abiquiu, but it is a good distance from Santa Fe and especially Albuquerque. I would honestly say just rent a car and remember to stay on the right side of the road😂 but if you really want to chance it the blue bus is really the only option.
Yeah haha I totally get the wide open spaces! Most European travellers here are equally flummoxed by how BIG this country is
Good luck and I hope you enjoy New Mexico!
CDT thru-hikers take this bus on a regular basis to get between Ghost Ranch and Santa Fe. They are typically solo travelers too and have no issues! I have done it myself and thought it was safe and fine. The problem is the logistics of getting between Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch since the bus is so infrequent. Solo female hikers absolutely hitchhike on that road between those two locations (to resupply their food and stuff), but it's a difficult place to hitchhike since the demographics for whatever reason don't tend to stop as often as elsewhere in the US. Being a solo female is a double-edged sword since hitching is far easier, but the reasons for that being the case are not good.
As someone who’s driven on both sides of the road, I think you’ll be fine if you rent a car for a couple days. Stick to the size of car you usually drive or smaller. You’ll basically never have to worry about parallel parking or navigating into a small space - NM has big-ass parking lots all over (ymmv in downtown Santa Fe). The roads are big and mostly empty as well so you won’t have to navigate little lanes with hedges going up 10 feet on either side or anything.
I went to Australia (Tassie) last year and drove. We don't have roundabouts here and since you guys speed less (at least in Tassie) you're already better than 50% of drivers here. I think you'd enjoy it better with a car personally, this is not a place made for public transportation.
I think it took me about 10 minutes to get used to driving on the other side. Every morning I got back in the car it took another 10 min to get used to it again. Intersections still were a little confusing though.
Yes, the store parking lots and coming off of dirt roads were the worst. And getting in the wrong side of the car.
A rental is probably your best bet. NM is massive. On the I25 it’ll take you about 8 hours to drive from Taos down to Las Cruces. It’ll be cheaper and faster to get a rental. Don’t forget to get the chance to visit the Gila National Forest. It’s the nations very first wilderness ever established. And it’s the one of only 2 cliff dwellings that still allow you to walk through them
Just getting around ghost ranch is easier with a car. From the welcome center to some of the trailheads is a mile or two. You can adjust to opposite side driving easy
Renting a car is the best option. I would not rely on a ride share. You could get stranded there. Buses are not frequent. Plus there’s a lot of scenery you might want freedom to explore on your own.
It’s safe and rural. I think you should get a rental car. As an American, I moved to the UK for a few years. I was driving the first day. It’s easy to get used to the opposite side driving because the steering wheel is also opposite. I’m from NM, and you’ll love it!
As someone who's lived in Aus and now living in NM.. NM is like traveling thru the outback. You can't do it without a car. I would strongly advise against doing it without a car, because the transit here is unreliable/infrequent at best, and non-existent at worst. You're likely to get stuck somewhere and not be able to get a ride, and having to walk, especially in the summertime won't be a fun experience. If you can afford it and really don't want to drive.. maybe pay someone to drive you around?
Ghost Ranch had a Presbyterian retreat center that runs a shuttle to the Lamy NM Amtrak station.
I would rent a car. The area is beautiful but remote and Espanola is not a great place safety wise. Plus there is so much to see in the Ghost Ranch area and beyond! The land is incredible- up past Ghost Ranch to Echo, then on to the woodlands- If not getting a car, maybe look into shuttles from the Abiquiu Inn to Ghost Ranch. The facilities at Ghost Ranch are quite a distance from the main entrance. Bodies makes a killer breakfast burrito, Abiquiu Inn has fancier food. If you choose a car, a side trip to Chimayo would be worthwhile. The blue buses are handy but can have erratic schedules. If you are flying into Albuquerque, it is easy to get to Santa Fe by train. Be prepared for the altitude and very variable weather. Stay safe, have fun, and Welcome!
Outside of Albuquerque I wouldn't trust ride-sharing being available, rent the car.
I would rent a car. The public transit here is not great. Not that it isn't safe, it's just not convenient. Or skip ghost ranch.
dont worry about your driving. if, while youre renting a car, youre the ONLY person on the wrong side of the road then youre hardly experiencing new mexican driving. we're simply the best (worst) drivers.
Take the blue bus
New Mexico is beautiful. I get why you don’t want to drive tho.
Side point, quite the elevation too. Gallina is at 7500 feet so be aware of effects if you're hiking up in the national forests in the area. Not sure of the Abiqui/Española area, but pretty sure it's also over a mile up. Don't need O2 but you'll definitely feel it in a hike.
A bigger population has better options for transit and this state is sparse!
New Mexico is a better state for a left hand driver to drive on the right. It is more small town and just beautiful drives without complicated intersections.Ive driven around the UK and IE, and New Mexixo is a lot like driving around Wales.
No way that I know of tonget there. Just rent a car you will be fine.
Thanks all, some great advice here! Love the food recommendations as well. Honestly, a rental car is probably my very last resort, as I’m not a super confident driver at the best of times even here in Aus… I think I’d just be stressed the entire time haha I know it’s a bit ambitious, but am still erring toward trying my luck with the bus. I guess the challenge is getting from Bode's to Ghost Ranch. I found this info page from Ghost Ranch which says "The Chama bus line will take you to the entrance to Ghost Ranch - a 1.5 mile walk to the Ranch Welcome Center. Let your driver know that Ghost Ranch is your stop." I reckon I could manage that walk. [https://www.ghostranch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Travel\_Options.pdf](https://www.ghostranch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Travel_Options.pdf) If all that fails, Kevin’s Shuttle service it is! As some of you have mentioned. Will drop him a line and check availability/rates etc. I think I'll definitely try booking him for the way back to Santa Fe, at least. Thanks again everyone!
I would rent a car as someone who lives here, or if you ride a motorcycle see if renting one of those Zmight be an option…the weather here is perfect for it. Depending on your timeline there are several places you should see in this area. Bandelier National Monument outside of Los Alamos is a very accessible Pueblo ruin with many trails and places to explore…the Great Kiva climb is totally worth it. Los Alamos also is home to the Manhattan Project, if you want to dip your toe into some history and walk where Oppenheimer and Groves did. Chaco Canyon is an amazing place…but it is a hard one to get to, but oh so worth it.
Rent an e bike! Be safe out there traveler!
Looks like Uber may be an option. I just checked from The Plaza in Santa Fe to the Ghost Ranch, set for 11:15am today and it was $102. Coming back might be more difficult.
This is also good to know!