📍Enchanted Circle (Taos to Red River), New Mexico

After the drive in, ease into the trip with a short, flat walk along the riverside trail north of downtown — the water moves fast even in winter, dark and cold between ice-crusted rocks, and steam sometimes rises where it hits colder air. It's a gentle reintroduction to your legs after hours in the car, and teens will appreciate the freedom to wander a few steps ahead on the packed-snow path while parents catch their breath in the thin air.

Wander the compact downtown strip — galleries, gear shops, and a coffee counter or two — giving teens some autonomy to browse a shop alone while parents scope out dinner options. The mountains close in early on all sides here, and by late afternoon the light turns the whole valley amber before dropping fast behind the peaks.

Arrive by 9:30am and the ghost town is yours — no other cars in the lot, just weathered cabins standing silent against an enormous winter sky. Snow often dusts the rooflines and fence posts, turning the whole site into a frozen photograph of New Mexico's mining boom-and-bust past. Teens who might roll their eyes at 'another historic site' tend to come around once they're climbing over foundation stones and imagining a town that once had 7,000 residents and now has none.

Back in Red River after lunch, take a second, different stretch of the riverside trail — this time up toward the upper canyon narrows, where hemlock branches arch overhead and the water squeezes tight between icy banks. It's a quieter, more dramatic version of yesterday's walk, well-suited to teens who want a slightly wilder feel without real difficulty.

By midday the light is flat but clean over the lake, much of its surface locked in ice, rimmed by dark evergreens and the jagged edge of the Sangre de Cristos. It's a hushed, almost meditative stop — good for teens who need a break from constant activity and parents who want five quiet minutes staring at something enormous and still. Watch footing near the shoreline; ice can look more solid than it is.

Return for a shorter visit right before sunset — the dam overlook is the easiest vantage point, and in winter's short days, the light show happens fast and dramatic, the whole basin glowing before the cold reasserts itself and everyone's ready for the car heater.

This is the trip's big adventure moment — best suited to families with capable teens ready for a real physical challenge. In winter, a full summit push is not advisable for most families; instead, arrive by 7:30am for the quieter lower trail toward Williams Lake, where the alpine wind is sharp, the silence total, and the views toward distant peaks already staggering even below treeline. Turn back well before conditions or energy run low — this is about the experience of high alpine terrain, not the summit itself in winter conditions.

After the morning's exertion, wind down with one last easy stroll along the riverside trail and through downtown — a chance to grab final souvenirs, warm up with a hot drink, and let the morning's adrenaline settle before the drive home. It's a fitting bookend: the same river that welcomed you on day one sends you off, a little colder, a little more in love with the quiet of this place.