Earthships

Numbering 70 Earthships (9am-4pm; tours adult/child under 11 $9/free), with capacity for 60 more, Taos’ pioneering community was the brainchild of architect Michael Reynolds. Built with recycled materials such as used automobile tires and cans, and buried on three sides, Earthships heat and cool themselves, make their own electricity and catch their own water; dwellers grow their own food. Stay at Earthship Rentals (earthship.com/stay, from $240 night) if possible; the self-guided "tour" is disappointing. The visitor center is 1.5 miles west of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on Hwy 64.