San Fidel
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San Fidel

San Fidel

Tiny Route 66 hamlet with unrestored roadside relics, a mission church, and high-desert wine.

On old Route 66 in Cibola County, San Fidel is a tiny hamlet between Albuquerque and Gallup with a couple of things worth stopping for. For Route 66 roadies, there are the ruins of the Whiting Brothers Chief Rancho motel to the west of town, and the White Arrow Garage in town — authentic, unrestored relics of the old road rather than tourist reconstructions. East of the mission church, a small gallery shows contemporary art. To the north of town, a small winery produces a Riesling from the high desert conditions that is worth a tasting stop.

Guide

Things to Do

San Fidel is a hamlet, not a destination — a Route 66 dot on the map between Albuquerque and Gallup. Its appeal is to those who are driving the old road and want to see the traces of what it was before the interstate bypassed it.

The ruins of the Whiting Brothers Chief Rancho motel, on the western edge of town, are the most visible reminder of Route 66's heyday. Whiting Brothers ran a chain of motels and gas stations across the Southwest; this one closed decades ago and the buildings are slowly returning to the desert. The White Arrow Garage in town is another relic from the same era. Both are photogenic in the blunt, unpretentious way of mid-century commercial architecture gone to seed.

East of the mission church there is a small gallery that shows contemporary work — one of those surprising finds that Route 66 occasionally throws up. Check opening hours before going; small galleries in rural New Mexico keep their own schedules.

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