A New Mexico geological gem

Jemez Springs is a historical hot spot—and not just because it sits beside a dormant volcano, said Claudia Carbone in The Denver Post. Poke at the sleepy surface of this village in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and it “explodes in vivid Technicolor,” revealing waterfalls, hot springs, ancient ruins, and layers of rich culture. As late as the 13th century, some 30,000 Puebloans lived in nearby Valles Caldera, a volcanic valley whose surrounding Jemez Mountains harbor the country’s largest concentration of ancestral ruins. You can visit the modern Jemez Pueblo or the remains of the church that 1620s missionaries ordered built in Jemez Springs. You can also enjoy a long soak at the Jemez Springs Bath House, located near where a geyser exploded in 1860, creating the hot spring pool around which the town was built. Following my own bath, attendants “wrapped me like a burrito” in a herb-infused hot towel and I lay still until I was jelly.