San Rafael
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San Rafael

San Rafael

Small New Mexico village near El Malpais, anchored by a late-1800s stone mission church.

San Rafael is a small village just south of Grants on NM-53, at the edge of the malpais lava fields that give the nearby El Malpais National Monument its name. The village was once the site of the original Fort Wingate, established in 1862 during the Navajo campaigns, though nothing of the fort remains today.

What does remain is the San Rafael Mission Church, a handsome stone building that anchors the village and dates to the late 1800s. The surrounding settlement has a weathered, end-of-the-road character -- a handful of adobe houses, a bar, and not much else. It is picturesque in a quiet, unpolished way.

San Rafael is best visited as a stop on the way to El Malpais or the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano, both located along NM-53 heading south. The lava landscapes here are otherworldly, and the Ice Cave maintains year-round ice in the New Mexico heat, which feels like a small miracle.

Guide

Day Trips

San Rafael is a convenient base for exploring the badlands country south on NM-53, the Pueblo culture along I-40, and the Zuni Reservation an hour to the west. None of these are more than a couple of hours' drive.

Guide

Things to Do

San Rafael itself is half a dozen quiet streets around a beautiful stone church. The reason to stop is everything just outside the village — the lava country of El Malpais, the Ice Cave, Mount Taylor — all reached from NM-53 or NM-117. Most visitors give the village fifteen minutes and the surrounding country a full day; both are worth it.

Guide

When to Go

The country around San Rafael sits at 6,500 feet — high enough that summers are warm but not punishing, and winters are cold and snowy. May, June, September, October are the best months: clear days, cool nights, and lava that is hot enough to walk on but not punishing. July and August bring afternoon thunderstorms; hike early and watch the sky over Mount Taylor.

Winter closes some Forest Service roads to the Mount Taylor trailheads but leaves the lower-elevation lava country open and dramatically uncrowded. The Ice Cave is fine year-round — the temperature inside doesn't change.