I’ve been to NM in April, mostly southern areas though. I’m looking to camp either Santa Fe National forest or Gila area around mid March. I’m fine with cold, but is there usually snow? I don’t have a 4x4 vehicle which is my biggest concern. I was really looking forward to Columbine campground specifically but saw some pretty snowy pics from someone who stayed early march. Any advice?

Have to give the Governor credit here.

Before I share my recent experience I’m not posting this for sympathy or to make it seem like Taos is a terrible place. I’m posting this for anyone who might travel there and be subjected to the hate that I was.

I (BW) recently had a holiday in NM with my bf (WM), our home base was Santa Fe and then we spent two nights in Taos. Santa Fe was lovely and so were the people. I definitely noticed pretty quickly I didn’t see any black faces in Taos which at first didn’t alarm me but then made sense.

Our second night in Taos my bf and I went to the plaza, which was pretty quiet for holiday time, to take photos in the gazebo with all the lights. Nobody was around except these 2-3 trucks parked off to the side. I couldn’t see what they looked like but I heard a few voices and figured it was a group of dudes. They were blasting rap music — Hood N**** by Gorilla Zoe to be specific, I recognized the song.

We went up into the gazebo and took a few photos then sat on the bench inside for legit two minutes. The music stopped abruptly.

Suddenly one of the guys below (I couldn’t see them) shouted, “I hate N***! I hate N***! I’d string em up myself if I could. Let em shrivel up, let em burn!”

Needless to say my bf and I were shocked. At first we just sat still not knowing what to do, I didn’t want to let them run me out of there but everything in me told me to go and quickly. A lynching threat is not exactly the thing to take lightly.

My bf wanted to say something to them but all I could think about was the many ways that could go really wrong really fast, especially in this town we don’t live in. We left quickly and the music started back up; Spanish trap music.

I had a really hard time sleeping that night and tbh for the rest of the night was super on edge. I heard a bunch of trucks rumbling around, which I’m sure is just the car culture there but also was hard not to think they were driving around trying to see if we were still around…

I went to bed suspicious about a very particular thing and woke up to confirm it with some research; not only was Taos a former sundown town, it’s rumored to still be active today.

We didn’t spare any extra time and packed up our stuff to head back to Santa Fe the next morning.

For any travelers or visitors, this is an important thing to be aware of. The past is meaningful and very much informs the present and the culture that exists there. This was 12/29/24.

https://preview.redd.it/07d6i7s7apbe1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=768c70ee3b914384a22b1384f7147b0564ca6e0b

I know -- one day late!