Chimayó and Los Luceros Day Trip

Join expert guide, Don Usner, for an in-depth tour of Chimayó’s historic Plaza del Cerro and Santuario. The day will conclude with a visit to the 148-acre estate at Los Luceros Historic Site, north of Alcalde. Ticket includes Harwood Museum, Chimayó Museum, and Los Luceros Admission and all guide fees. Guests are responsible for their own transportation and lunch Rancho de Chimayó.

About Don Usner

Born in 1957 in Embudo, New Mexico, Don grew up in Los Alamos and Chimayó, New Mexico. He earned a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to manage an ecological reserve in Big Sur, California, where he and fellow Santa Cruz graduate Paul Henson co-authored Natural History of Big Sur published by the University of California Press, with photos by Don. Don returned to New Mexico in 1988 to complete an M.A. in Geography at the University of New Mexico, then wrote Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza, published in 1995 by the Museum of New Mexico Press. He has since written and provided photographs for several more books, including, most recently (with Kate Ware and Daniel Kosharek),¡Órale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico, Museum of New Mexico Press, 2016; and Chasing Dichos through Chimayó (2014). Other books by Usner include, with William deBuys, Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve (1996) (winner of a Southwest Book Award in 1996; new edition in press for 2021); New Mexico Route 66 On Tour: Legendary Architecture from Glenrio to Gallup (2021); and Benigna’s Chimayó: Cuentos from the Old Plaza (2001). Don also contributed a chapter and photographs to The Plazas of New Mexico, San Antonio: Trinity University Press (2011) (winner of Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association).

Don has taught photography at Santa Fe Preparatory School, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and the College of Santa Fe, and cultural geography at Santa Fe Community College. He continues to cultivate his lifelong interest in cultural and natural history as he works as a writer and photographer in Santa Fe, where he lives with his wife, Deborah Harris.

Image: Los Luceros, NM. Photo by H. Sage Goodwin, 1920 – 1930? Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, New Mexico History Museum.