The name means "hot springs" in Spanish, and that is exactly what brings people to this tiny hamlet north of Espanola. The Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs resort is one of the grooviest hot springs spots anywhere -- intimate, unhurried, and thoroughly off the beaten track. Five distinct geothermal pools with different mineral compositions emerge from the volcanic hillside, and the surrounding high desert landscape adds to the sense of being somewhere timeless.
Above the resort, a short trail leads up to Posi Ouinge, the ruins of an ancestral Tewa pueblo whose inhabitants considered these springs sacred. The views from the mesa are excellent, and the connection between ancient people and the same waters flowing below gives the place an extra dimension beyond the spa experience.
Ojo Caliente is best visited with at least one night at the on-site inn. A day visit is possible but misses the point: the springs at dawn and dusk, when the desert light turns the bluffs orange and pink, are the real reward.