(Forest Service, U.S.D.A.)Now this is what is meant by forest.... from Monjeau Lookout
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A.)Now this is what is meant by forest.... from Monjeau Lookout
From Tularosa to Alamogordo, U.S. Highway 70 is along the west edge of the Sacramento Mountains wherein tier upon tier of dolomite and limestone cliffs rise to the high peaks near Cloudcroft. Southwestward from Alamogordo, the highway cuts diagonally across the Tularosa Basin, skirting the southern edge of the White Sands, and passing through White Sands Missile Range. Ahead lie the fabulous spires of the Organ Mountains; to the right, the notched cliffs of the San Andres Mountains stretch northward to rounded Salinas Peak and beyond the horizon. Steeply, the highway rises to cross San Augustin Pass between the Organ and San Andres mountains, past the village of Organ with its crumbling mining dumps, before plunging downward onto the southern end of Jornada delMuerto, and finally, on the east edge of Las Cruces, leaves the creosote bush plains to dip into the green Mesilla Valley of the Rio Grande.
West of Carrizozo, U.S. 380 crosses the black basalt flows of Valley of Fires State Park, curves over the Carrizozo dome and up the dip slopes of Chupadera Mesa, crosses in red roadcuts the northern tip of Sierra Oscura, then westward through sand dunes of the northern Jornada del Muerto. Coal beds crop out at Cerro Colorado before the highway sweeps down into the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio.
U.S. Highway 60 enters the state from the east on the Staked Plains near booming Clovis, crosses Rio Pecos Valley at Fort Sumner—near Billy the Kid’s grave—goes straight as a beeline over the plains to Vaughn, then crosses the low southern end of the Pedernal Hills where tan Permian sandstones lie abruptly on Precambrian granite, quartzite, and schists. Near Willard, the highway crosses the southern end of the Estancia Valley, with the salt lakes of Laguna del Perro mere remnants of the huge Pleistocene lake that once filled the Valley. West from Mountainair, Abo redbeds border the highway; limestone walls of Gran Quivira lie to the south and the red sandstone church ruins of Abo and Quarai are to the north. Through Abo Pass between the Manzano and Los Pinos mountains the highway runs, then down the long alluvial fan slopes to the Rio Grande Valley at Bernardo. From Bernardo to Socorro, U.S. Highway 60 joins Interstate 25; westward from Socorro, the road climbs out of the Valley onto Snake Ranch Flats, parallels the snow-tipped Magdalena Mountains to Magdalena, then crosses the north end of the grassy San Agustin Plains. Westward to Datil and Quemado, the highway is always in sight of volcanic mountains, up and down winding canyons, and across intermontane plains.
Still westward into Arizona along U.S. Highway 60 are Springerville, fabulous Salt River Canyon, the mining cities of Globe, Miami, and Superior, and booming Phoenix.
Into this west-central New Mexico country of volcanic peaks and grassy plains comes U.S. Highway 180 from Deming northwestward. Along the scenic, winding route are City of Rocks, the copper smelter at Hurley, Santa Rita’s huge open-pit copper mine, famous Silver City, colorful canyons of the Gila and San Francisco rivers, and, crossed by passes or bordering all routes, the rugged rhyolite, andesite, and basalt ledges and cliffs.
From El Paso to Raton Pass, 515 miles, U.S. Highway 85 (Interstate 25) crosses New Mexico from south to north, from Mexico to Colorado. As far as La Bajada Hill, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the highway parallels the Rio Grande. Northward from El Paso, past Las Cruces to Radium Springs and old Fort Selden, the green Mesilla Valley borders the route; then through Selden Canyon into the Hatch Valley near San Diego Mountain, and along the west side of the bold cliffs of the Caballo Mountains, past Caballo Reservoir to Truth or Consequences (old Hot Springs). Eastward lies Elephant Butte Dam and reservoir; the road cuts across alluvial plains to the west of the Rio Grande all the way to Albuquerque, with the mountains to the west the San Mateo, Magdalena,Socorro, and Ladron and to the east, the Fra Cristobal, Los Pinos, and Manzano.
Intersecting Interstate 40 at Albuquerque, the Pan-American Central Highway, Interstate 25 crosses to the east side of the Rio Grande, the sheer cliffs of the Sandia Mountains to the east and the distant dark green Jemez Mountains to the northwest. Crossing Galisteo Creek northeast of Santo Domingo Pueblo, Interstate 25 turns toward the northeast, climbs La Bajada Hill, onto the green plains sloping from Santa Fe. Santa Fe, the ancient capital city, is nestled on the edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Southeastward and eastward, U.S. Highway 85 (to be Interstate 25 here) rolls, skirting the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, wedged in by the north-facing cliffs of Glorieta Mesa, through Glorieta Pass, where the Confederates lost the battle for the Southwest, across the upper reaches of Rio Pecos, and around to Las Vegas. Then in straight lines across the western edges of the Great Plains where they lap up onto the Sangre de Cristo ranges, through Wagon Mound and Springer to Raton. The climb up-canyon to Raton Pass, through roadcuts of brown sandstone, shale, and coal, leads into Colorado, with a view of much of southern Colorado from the Pass.
Many routes lead northward from ancient Santa Fe. U.S. Highway 285 crosses the high divide near Bishop’s Lodge, follows Rio Tesuque to Pojoaque, crosses the Rio Grande near Espanola amid varicolored badlands cut in the Santa Fe rocks, then heads northward on the black basalt plateau toward Colorado. Black Mesa, a volcanic neck, lies south of Espanola, overlooking the green Rio Grande Valley; atop this height, Pueblo Indians once defied Spanish guns until they starved. Northward, near Tres Piedras, the Ortega and Brazos ranges tower to the west, the perlite-rich hills of No Agua lie to the northeast, and across the basalt plains cut by the Rio Grande, the lofty, snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains loom.
At Pojoaque, State Road 4 leads westward, across Otowi bridge of the Rio Grande, then winds up into the canyon and mesa country bordering the Jemez Mountains. Herein lie Bandelier and Los Alamos, one with ancient abandoned pueblos, the other the atomic city. Farther west, the road crosses the rim of an ancient volcano into Valle Grande, the crater of that volcano—some 16 miles across. When this volcano spewed forth hot ashes about a million years ago, the volcanic dust was wind-blown as far as Kansas and Nebraska!
At Espanola, U.S. Highway 84 breaks away to the northwest to follow Rio Chama in its canyon carved from redbeds near Abiquiu, past the interesting museum at Ghost Ranch—where bones of Triassic dinosaurs are collected—Echo Amphitheater, El Vado Lake, through Chama, and on up into the San Juan Mountains country of southern Colorado.
Near Espanola, U.S. Highway 64 splits off to the northeast; this is the high road of north-central New Mexico. Paralleling the canyon of the Rio Grande to Pilar, the highway climbs up onto the Taos plateau to Taos, turns eastward to cut through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains over Palo Flechado Pass, down into the grassy Moreno Valley to Eagle Nestand Eagle Nest Lake, then eastward again following the narrow canyon of the Cimarron River to Cimarron and Raton. A loop trip northward from Eagle Nest on State 38 goes through ghost town Elizabethtown, over Red River Pass, and down the varicolored canyon of Red River to Questa, before turning southward toward Taos.
(U.S. Park Service)Subdivision living, pueblo style—at Aztec National Monument
(U.S. Park Service)Subdivision living, pueblo style—at Aztec National Monument
And there is the northwest, the Four Corners region, land of Navajos and gas wells, presided over by magnificent Shiprock. State Highway 44 leaves Interstate 25 at Bernalillo, follows Rio Salado to San Ysidro, which nestles at the south tip of the Nacimiento Mountains below White Mesa, thence northwestward past Cabezon Peak and coaly La Ventana to Cuba in the valley of Rio Puerco. Then, up and down, the winding highway cuts transversely across the San Juan Basin, through pine groves at the Continental Divide, past the side road to Chaco Canyon National Monument at Blanco Trading Post, and among the multicolored Tertiary beds carved into badlands. At Bloomfield, oil and gas wells lie all about, and the mesa-and-canyon country gives way to the valley of the San Juan River. At Aztec, State Road 44 joins U.S. Highway 550 in the narrow valley of the Animas River—a clear cold stream sent rushing down from the icy lakes of the San Juan Mountains to the north. Eastward a few miles lies Navajo Lake along the San Juan River; northward, U. S. 550winds up the Animas Valley toward Durango, high Silverton, and Mesa Verde National Park. Aztec Ruins National Monument is just to the northwest of Aztec.
Westward from Aztec, U.S. Highway 550 follows the Animas River to its junction with the San Juan River, then past the huge Navajo coal mine, a long open cut near Fruitland, to junction with U.S. Highway 666 at Shiprock.
Shiprock! A buttressed needle, towering 1450 vertical feet above Navajo-land, with walls of black igneous rock radiating from its feet like spokes on a wheel. This dark-colored spire once filled the throat of a volcano. Where are piles of rocks, hundreds of feet thick, that once surrounded it? Down the river they went, down the San Juan to the Colorado River, and thence to the ocean.
To the west, as a background, are the forested Carrizo, Lukachukai, and Chuska mountains. Off to the east lies Hogback Mountain, an upturned ridge of sedimentary rocks producing oil—the petroleum geologist’s favorite haunt, an anticline.
Southward from Shiprock, U.S. 666 passes other volcanic necks such as Bennett Peak and Ford Butte. North of Gallup, State Road 68 leads westward to Window Rock (Arizona), the Indian Headquarters of the Navajo Reservation. Near Gallup, coal beds of Late Cretaceous age crop out, Gamerco once being a booming coal-mining town. Now huge dragline shovels scoop out the coal from open pits to the northwest of Gallup. And at Gallup, the Indian Capital, a loop drive around the San Juan Basin is completed; Interstate 40, old U.S. Highway 66, goes eastward to Albuquerque, St. Louis, and Chicago, and westward to Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, and the blue Pacific.
Many other scenic places dot the Land of Enchantment; local hosts, rancher or city dweller, know of these. Mountain meadows, rushing streams, rocky peaks, desert valleys, badlands, grassy plains, thick forests, spectacular chasms, needle rocks, and brilliant colors—they are all here in New Mexico.
[1]New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.[2]National Park Service.[3]Forest Service, Southwestern Region, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.[4]Information on monuments and parks developed since this publication was first printed may be obtained from The New Mexico State Park and Recreation Commission, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.[5]New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.[6]K₂O is the common unit used in pricing and assaying potassium salts. However, the potash is sold as purified potassium chloride or sulfate.
[1]New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
[2]National Park Service.
[3]Forest Service, Southwestern Region, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
[4]Information on monuments and parks developed since this publication was first printed may be obtained from The New Mexico State Park and Recreation Commission, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.
[5]New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
[6]K₂O is the common unit used in pricing and assaying potassium salts. However, the potash is sold as purified potassium chloride or sulfate.
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