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I was cruising up New Mexico forest rd 1950 for work the other day. I was thinking that this has to be some of the best back road scenery in NM. I did not get to take many photos due to work.
What is your favorite back rd trip in NM? Don't need to be paved.
Lake Valley from the Middle of Nowhere Bar (north of Hatch) to Hillsboro. I love seeing the antelope - I've even had them race along side the car a couple times. They really react to a whistle and will start to approach you. Weird but very cool!
The chances of seeing another car on that are slim to none and it's beautiful scenery.
So far the road to Mogollon from NM 180 is the most memorable. I'll just have to get out there and explore others. RT 180 to 12 is also a good drive.
FWIW - if any of you ever get to New Hampshire try the Kancamagus Highway and the Bear Notch Road for truly magnificent scenery.
I loved traveling the Kancamagus, have some pictures I took there this spring.
We're hoping to take some road trips here before long. We've driven around a little bit, but have yet to get off the beaten path....unless you count the unmaintained roads here in RR.
I like taking La Luz Canyon drt road from La Luz all the way to cloudcroft on the backway dirt road for miles 20 miles or so. Surrounded by Mountainous Pine all around.
NM 126. It's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure that is it. From highway US 550 take NM 4 through Jemez Pueblo, NM and Jemez Springs, NM. This alone is interesting. Be sure and check out the natural spring in a small gazebo in Jemez Springs. There are also commercial baths. Also some very popular natural springs a few miles above Jemez Springs.
Continue on up the canyon on NM 4. Actually the entire route into Los Alamos, NM makes for a nice drive. At one point the highway skirts the edge of a very large extinct volcano. The many curves of the road dropping down into Los Alamos are interesting. But if you cut off before there, about where the road seems to crest out of the canyon, on NM 126, it will eventually lead you into Cuba, NM.
This is the route through Fenton Lake State Park. I believe the road is already dirt by then, not becoming asphalt again until nearing Cuba, but only after the Park does it begin to get interesting. As in if you value your car sometimes you might slow down. I recall one spot where the road narrows to one lane to delve through a rocky draw of sorts.
A route best taken if one is in no particular hurry. The scenery is fine, if not spectacular. Suppose I'd recommend this more as something a little oddball, in the farthest reaches of which you may see only yourself.
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US 64 from near Raton, NM to Blanco, NM (near Bloomfield, NM) is a lovely and often scenic drive. As a two lane highway it is paved the entire distance. Also, for that matter, the major east west artery in this part of the state. Although you may wonder at times, given the paucity of traffic.
Among various attractions would be the NRA center just outside of Raton, NM. Largely between there and Cimarron, NM is Ted Turner country, with a fair chance of seeing some of his buffalo near the highway on this vast ranch.
The St. James Hotel in Cimarron, NM is said to be haunted. In fact it almost surely is (and I only qualify this, having not yet spent a night there). It has also served host to a number of notable ruffians, with certain rooms named in their honor.
The drive from Cimarron to Taos, NM is through some lovely mountains. Just west of the small enclave of Ute Park, CO is a small natural spring. Good water, which many stop at to fill containers.
Eagle Nest, NM has a somewhat cute main street. With a good elevation it is one of the colder places in New Mexico come winter. Eagle Nest Lake is adjacent.
Taos of course has many charms. If not careful you may get sidetracked there for some time. Maybe forever.
Across the valley from Taos the small town of Tres Piedras is named for and notable for the interesting rock formations which one will spy across the sagebrush well before getting there.
For mountain driving the best portion of this route may well be between Tres Piedras and the far side of the pass that is crossed, the town of Tierra Amarilla, NM reached shortly after. This stretch crosses the southern flank of the San Juan mountains, and with evergreen and aspen one might imagine they are in Colorado. This section is occasionally closed at higher elevations come winter, but generally open, with only light traffic any time of year.
Tierra Amarilla may be most notable as an epicenter of bad feeling. This may no longer be exactly the case, but at one time a land war of sorts there. A good place to hang out if you are a local of many generations back, suspicious of change, and with a generally dim view of outsiders. Perhaps I overstate this. Last I checked there was a large impromptu sign by the highway shortly after the 'T' intersection where US 64 joins US 84, which lends a certain credence to such notions.
Chama, NM might be best known as the western terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic (narrow gauge) Railroad. The railroad is interesting, and the small town itself charming in a sort of indifferent New Mexico sort of way. A pleasant location many enjoy for the setting and proximity to mountains.
Not far beyond US 84 branches off to continue north to Pagosa Springs, CO. This in itself a nice drive, and Pagosa Springs with a striking location. But that another story.
A bit beyond this junction, at which (on a slight rise back off the highway) sits a quaint little church lost all by itself, is the Apache town of Dulce, NM. Apache because Dulce is just within the Jicarilla Apache Nation. One of the many native people's within New Mexico.
On the far side of this long and narrow Nation the road delves down, the landscape becoming drier, past often striking broken rock cliffs of weathered sandstone. It continues in this fashion on to Blanco. Just before reaching Blanco one crosses the San Juan river. This makes a good dividing line of sorts. For much beyond Blanco one emerges from open country into an often questionable assortment of civilization.
The San Juan river passes through, so in a sense issues from, Navajo Lake. A fairly remote but nice lake (reservoir) in a beautiful setting. If one so inclined they might depart US 64, taking NM 539 to the dam, either circling back or continuing on via NM 173 and NM 511 to re-join US 64. Aside from viewing the lake, the whole purpose of such a detour to drive the interesting NM 539. This is the kind of narrow, winding road best found in New Mexico. It must have been built when engineers felt following natural contours the best policy, and it does admirably. If in high water, as in an infrequent flash flood, you won't even be able to pass. More generally these areas dry, the road only dipping down into the arroyo to reveal someone else's tire tracks in the sand washed across by water long gone.
_yb where was this taken? (County) I have tried to google the info in your post - really want to go there in May.
I was cruising up New Mexico forest rd 1950 for work the other day. I was thinking that this has to be some of the best back road scenery in NM. I did not get to take many photos due to work.
What is your favorite back rd trip in NM? Don't need to be paved.
Just google "valle vidal NM" and you will find it.
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US 64 & Cuba the long way
_yb where was this taken? (County) I have tried to google the info in your post - really want to go there in May.
