Parking Downtown
Where to park near the Plaza: the free town lots, the paid-lot rates, and the locals' annual permit.
Parking downtown is the most-complained-about ten minutes of a Taos visit, and the rules have changed more than once in the last two years. Here is the current system, read from the town's own parking page: free town lots, paid kiosk lots in the historic district, and a yearly permit for locals.
These rules have moved before
Free town lots — about 250 spaces
No kiosk, no fee, at six town locations
- Open
- Free — the town's parking page lists no fees or kiosks for these lots
- Website
- Official page
Admission
- Anyone
- Free — about 250 spaces across the six locations below
How a visit works
The town manages free parking at Town Hall, the Taos Public Library, the Bedford Street Lot, Red Willow Park (the town's parking page still lists it under its former name, Kit Carson Park), Kit Carson Street, and Quesnel Street.
All six are within a short walk of the Plaza — on a busy summer weekend, going straight to one beats circling.
The town posts a public parking map (updated March 2026) on its parking page.
Good to know
- Store employees and regulars use these lots daily — arrive before mid-morning in July and August for the closest spaces.
Paid kiosk lots — Loretto & Couse and Guadalupe
Pay-to-park lots in the historic district, Monday–Saturday
- Open
- Paid Monday–Saturday, 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.; no charge outside those hours
- Website
- Official page
Admission
- By card
- $2.25 first hour — then $1.00 per additional hour
- By cash
- $1.00 first hour — then $1.00 per additional hour — kiosks give no change
- RVs / oversized vehicles
- $20 per day — Loretto and Couse lot
- Locals — annual permit
- $100 per year — valid for 2 license plates in the Loretto and Couse lots, plus a one-time non-refundable $21.00 processing fee