Meow Wolf Santa Fe: through the fridge and into the House of Eternal Return

Planning a trip to Meow Wolf Santa Fe? Here’s how the House of Eternal Return works, the rooms and secret passages not to miss, ticket prices, timed entry, how long to allow and how to get there from the Plaza.

Immersive art experiences seem to be having a bit of a moment right now, but Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return is the original, and it’s still the best. Fantastical Meow Wolf installations are now dotted across the US, but this is where it all started, in a former bowling alley on the south side of Santa Fe.

I visited in February, booked my ticket online and walked in kind of madly excited. It didn’t disappoint. It’s eclectic, it’s bonkers and it’s certainly not boring. I never knew what to expect around each corner: one moment I was sliding through a tunnel behind a washing-machine door, the next I was stepping into a portal through an innocuous-looking fridge. “OMG, this is so fun” was pretty much my running commentary, and it’s one of my favourite places in New Mexico.

Yes, the entrance is pretty pricey. I paid $35 booking online and I did think that was a lot, but it was spectacular, and the size and range of the installations is absolutely bonkers. This is immersive art on a grand scale, perfect for adults and children alike.

Here’s everything you need to plan your visit, from what’s inside to tickets, timings and getting there.

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Meow Wolf at a glance

• Where: 1352 Rufina Circle, off Cerrillos Road, about 4 miles south-west of the Plaza
• What: Meow Wolf’s first permanent exhibition, an immersive, walk-through art installation built around a Victorian house, with nearly 100 installations, secret passages and portals
• Tickets: general admission (timed entry) from $33 for adults and $26 for children aged 4 to 12; anytime admission from $54 and $44; children aged 3 and under go free
• Hours: opening days and times vary through the year, with entry slots from 10am, so check the calendar before you go
• Time needed: at least two to three hours
• Ages: all ages welcome; under-16s must be with an adult
• Getting there: about 15 minutes by car or taxi from the Plaza, with free on-site parking

From bowling alley to multiverse: how the House of Eternal Return began

Meow Wolf started life in 2008 as a scrappy art collective in Santa Fe, putting on DIY shows. Its big break came when George R.R. Martin, the Game of Thrones author and a Santa Fe local, backed the collective’s plan to turn Silva Lanes, a closed bowling alley on Rufina Circle, into a permanent exhibition, pledging around $2.7 million.

More than 100 artists and collaborators spent about two years building it, and the House of Eternal Return opened on 17 March 2016. Around 400,000 people visited in the first year, and more than 2.5 million have been through the doors since. The walk-through exhibition fills about 20,000 square feet of the 33,000-square-foot building, which also has a bar, a gift shop and a live music venue.

It isn’t a museum that stays still, either. Meow Wolf calls it a living, changing exhibition, and two or three new installations are added each year. One of the biggest additions was a new piece of the story, a shed belonging to the family’s father, a sound experimenter, which opened in 2024 and is packed with musical interactives.

Solve the mystery of the missing Selig family

You can treat Meow Wolf as one giant playground, and plenty of people do. But there’s a story running through the house if you want to follow it.

You start in what looks like an ordinary Victorian house. The Selig family who lived here have vanished after experiments that ruptured time and space, and the house now leaks into other dimensions. The family’s rooms are scattered with clues, from letters and diaries to newspaper clippings, that slowly piece together what happened.

You don’t have to crack it to have a brilliant time, but reading a few clues gives the wilder rooms more meaning. The Meow Wolf app tracks the story across the house, with objects that prompt you to dig deeper, plus the full storylines, videos and artist information.

Crawl, climb and slide: the rooms not to miss

What sets Meow Wolf apart is how you engage with the art. Rather than viewing pieces from a distance, you can touch, climb and interact with the installations across more than 70 rooms and hidden spaces. There’s no set route, so getting a little lost is part of the experience. A few to look out for:

• The washing machine: climb through the door of a washing machine and slide down the tunnel behind it. It was one of my favourite moments.
• The fridge: the most famous portal in the house. Open the innocuous-looking fridge in the kitchen and step straight through it into another world.
• The neon forest: a glowing forest of fluorescent trees and treehouses, complete with a deep-sea diver who seems to have taken a very wrong turn.
• The mastodon: a glowing mastodon skeleton whose ribs you can play like a xylophone.
• The mirror rooms: endlessly reflecting neon lights that make for the best photos in the house.
• Masks, caves and corridors: luminescent caves, space-age hallways, laser harps and giant neon masks, many hiding doors to somewhere else entirely.

Many of the tunnels and small spaces involve a bit of crawling or climbing, but they’re always optional, so you can skip anything that doesn’t appeal. Look for secret passages everywhere, behind doors and inside furniture you’d never think to open.

Meow Wolf Santa Fe tickets and prices

Book ahead. The House of Eternal Return gets busy, especially at weekends and during school holidays, and booking online is the best way to guarantee entry at the time you want. These are the main ticket types:

• General admission: a timed-entry ticket for a set date and time, from $33 for adults and from $26 for children aged 4 to 12.
• Anytime admission: pick a date and turn up whenever you like, from $54 for adults and $44 for children.
• Totally Worth It bundle: an anytime ticket plus a commemorative ticket and lanyard, a souvenir pin, Chromadepth glasses and five Meow Wolf tokens, from $56 for adults and $49 for children.
• First Through the Portal: VIP early access an hour before opening, with a drink at the café and extras.

Children aged 3 and under go free, and New Mexico residents get local pricing with a New Mexico ID. Prices vary by day, so the earlier you book, the more choice you’ll have.

Every visitor needs a signed SmartWaiver (parents or guardians sign for under-16s), which you can complete online beforehand or at the door. Visitors aged 16 and over must show a valid government-issued photo ID.

If you’re running late on a timed ticket, tell the staff on arrival if you’re less than 30 minutes late; any later and you’ll need to contact the guest experience team, and entry depends on capacity.

Opening hours and the best time to visit

Opening days and times vary through the year, with entry slots from 10am, so check the calendar on the Meow Wolf website before you plan your day. It also hosts special events: Adulti-Verse evenings with DJs and cocktails are for over-21s only, and live music nights take over the venue on some evenings.

Weekday mornings are the quietest time to go. At weekends and in the summer holidays, the corridors and portals can get crowded, and you’ll spend more time queuing for the slides.

How long to spend inside

Allow at least two to three hours. That’s enough to explore the house, follow a few threads of the story and get through most of the rooms. If you want to find every secret passage, or you’re visiting with children who’ll want to go round again, you could easily spend half a day. An anytime ticket takes the pressure off, as you can arrive when it suits you.

Is Meow Wolf good for kids?

Yes. All ages are welcome, and children tend to love the slides, tunnels and hidden doors as much as adults do. Under-16s must be with an adult. Children aged 3 and under go free, and child tickets cover ages 4 to 12.

A few things to know if you’re visiting with little ones: strollers aren’t allowed inside, so leave them in the stroller parking outside, and some rooms are dark, loud or use flashing and strobe lights. Free sensory bags with noise-reducing headphones, sunglasses and sensory toys are available, and some rooms are designed as calmer, low-sensory spaces for a break.

Getting around with a wheelchair or sensory needs

Meow Wolf says its exhibitions meet ADA accessibility standards and that most areas can be navigated by wheelchair, scooter, walker or crutches. The ground floor, where most of the installations are, is accessible, but there are steps up and down and uneven flooring in places, and staff can help with navigation. Most areas have more than one way in.

Service animals are welcome, and there are eight accessible parking spaces for visitors with a valid permit. Meow Wolf’s exhibitions are Certified Autism Centers.

How to get to Meow Wolf from the Plaza

The House of Eternal Return is about 4 miles south-west of the Plaza, off Cerrillos Road, so it’s not one to walk to from downtown. Look for the giant robot sculpture standing guard outside.

By car: it’s about a 15-minute drive from the Plaza, heading south-west on Cerrillos Road before turning on to Rufina Circle. There’s free on-site parking for cars, trucks and vans, plus limited street parking nearby (check the signs before you leave your car).

By taxi or rideshare: drop-off is at the front door, but rideshares are limited in Santa Fe, so book your ride back in good time.

By bus: Santa Fe Trails buses run along Cerrillos Road; check the route map for the nearest stop and allow time for a short walk.

Eat and drink at Float

You don’t have to leave the building to refuel. Float Café & Bar, inside the building, serves cocktails and mocktails, beer, wine, coffee, snacks and sweets, including the house Meow-garita. You don’t need an exhibition ticket to visit, so it’s a fun spot to meet up before or after.

Make the most of being on this side of town, too: the galleries, shops and restaurants of the Railyard are on the way back into the centre. For more ideas, see my guide to the best things to do in Santa Fe, or use my Santa Fe weekend itinerary to fit Meow Wolf into a few days in the city.

Other Meow Wolf locations

Santa Fe was the first, but there are now four more permanent Meow Wolf exhibitions: Omega Mart at AREA15 in Las Vegas, Convergence Station in Denver, The Real Unreal in Grapevine near Dallas, and Radio Tave in Houston, with Los Angeles due to follow. Each has its own story, so a visit to one doesn’t spoil the others.

Tips for your visit

• Book online: it’s the best way to get your preferred time, especially at weekends.
• Dress for crawling: wear comfortable clothes and flat shoes, as many of the best passages involve crawling, climbing or sliding.
• Travel light: luggage, large backpacks and bags bigger than 8 by 8 inches aren’t allowed in, but there are token-operated lockers in the lobby (tokens cost $1).
• Leave the kit at home: personal photos are fine, but tripods, selfie sticks, camera lights and drones aren’t allowed.
• Make it a day trip: from Albuquerque, Santa Fe is about an hour’s drive north; see my day trips from Albuquerque and New Mexico road trip itinerary.

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Read next

• The best things to do in Santa Fe
• How to spend a weekend in Santa Fe
• The best day trips from Santa Fe
• The best things to do in New Mexico
• Incredible New Mexico landmarks
• New Mexico road trip: the ultimate itinerary

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