Santa Fe

Santa Fe is the oldest state capital in the United States, founded by Spanish colonists around 1610 — more than a decade before the Pilgrims landed — and the highest, at roughly 7,200 feet in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It served as the capital of a Spanish province, then Mexico, then the U.S. territory, and finally the state, an unbroken seat of government for over four centuries.

The high desert setting and centuries of adobe building give Santa Fe a look unlike any other American capital — low earthen-toned buildings clustered around a central plaza at the end of the old Santa Fe Trail. The Sangre de Cristos, the southern tip of the Rockies, rise just east of town, putting alpine peaks above the high desert. Art, tourism, and government sustain the city.

• New Mexico
  The Land of Enchantment, high desert and southern Rockies located in