South Texas to New Mexico

So for the 4th of July weekend my daughter and I are going to New Mexico. We are just hitting up a bunch of small places that we haven't done yet. Any input about these places or experience with other surrounding areas would be appreciated.

1st day: Leaving south of San Antonio and stopping at Ft Davis and McDonald observatory. Staying the night at either Hueco Tanks, Franklin Mountains State Park, or Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

2nd day: Going to White Sands. Going to drive a few roads in the area, go to the museum and then hang out at the White Sands National Monument and camp there for the night.

3rd day: Go to Lincoln National forest and hike up to Capitan peak. Might stay up there for the night or come back down and camp somewhere else in LNF.

4th day: Check out Capitan and Lincoln. Might stay in the area to camp or might start the drive down the Enchanted Rockies trail back towards Texas and camp somewhere along the way.

5th day: Go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and hike up Guadalupe peak. Stay the night up there.

6th day: Hike down and come home.

I have a seventh day so somewhere in the middle there I will be just be doing some exploring in whatever area I want to waste a day in. I wont know where until I get there.

 

Sounds like a great time!

 

White Sands NP is great. I haven't ventured to Capitan, but you won't be that far from the Very Large Array (VLA) west of Magdelena, NM. Impressive and worth a visit off the beaten path! Then, just another hour west is Pie Town! Beautiful country and great pie shops in this small town. If to far west, you might want to spend some time in Roswell and Carlsbad.

 

I am looking forward to it. I have spent many months in white sands numerous times but never on the recreation side of it.

 

Howdy, what part of South Texas? Coming back from a trip from Oregon we came down thru Nevada & Arizona passing Hoover Dam. I took some farm roads in New Mexico and passed thru some very nice places like Pie Town (awesome pies), Roswell, and other areas. Hope you enjoy your adventure with your daughter. Enjoy.

 

Pleasanton

 

Sounds like a great trip, b safe, njoy

 

Some suggestions based on my NM exploration while in El Paso. I couldn't remember the road names/numbers so I looked them up for you, and I believe them to be correct.

There is also a lot of things to see and do in Las Cruces and off US70 out of Las Cruces (Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument)

The trip recommendation for Day 4+ has been written up as one of the ten best "driving roads" in the US. Both recs are paved mountain roads but with a lot of switchbacks, ups and downs, with fantastic scenery. I drove them mostly in a Corvette convertible so it was a fun time. There are some side tracks off the main road where 4WD won't be required until bad weather. I remember driving my old 4Runner out onto a ridge, and realizing that the crown of the road WAS the peak of a ridge...you could see down on both sides from the road. I backed out.

Day 2+: Leaving White Sands continue up US70. (Edit: At Alamogordo, take US54 north, then) Just past Alamogordo, take US82 east through Lincoln Forest to Cloudcroft, then Rt244 northwest to Indian Service Rt 10. Take Indian Service Rt 10 north through Mescalero reservation back to US70 at town of Mescalero, then US 70 north until left on Rt48 to Ruidoso, then follow Rt48 to Capitan.

Day 4+: From Capitan, take US380 west to I-25 turning south at San Antonio. Continue I-25 south until just past Caballo, take Rt152 west through Hillsboro to Rt 61 (a boring drive iirc), then short drive north on Rt61 to San Lorenzo, then Rt35 north to Mimbres. At the intersection with Rt15, turn right (north) and follow Rt 15 all the way to dead end at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It's a long strenuous hike up to the dwellings but worth it.

Return down Rt 15. When you get to the intersection with Rt 35, go straight south on Rt 15 through Pino Altos to Silver City. Take US180 south to Deming, then I-10 to Las Cruces, then El Paso. Take US62 east out of El Paso through Cornudas to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. If you continue up US62 you'll come to White City and Carlsbad Caverns, but you'll probably be ready for your own bed after El Capitan.

 

Thank you!

 

@Justin.TX In my suggestions, I was trying to tie the trip together for you. Be advised the driving time from Capitan to Gila Cliff Dwellings by the route I gave you is 5 hours.

 

Be careful anywhere near Carlsbad on 62/180. I'd also advise taking another hour or so longer and not take HWY 285 at all in either Texas or NM. The oilfield traffic has made it extremely dangerous not to mention time consuming and frustrating, especially from Loving, NM down to Pecos. I'd avoid it at any cost (this is coming from someone that drives it every week for work).

 

Not sure if you will be in the area, but if you are a fan of the first Red Dawn movie check out Las Vegas NM, its where the movie was filmed. Some of the movie sets props are still around or at least were.

 

Thank you

 

One of my childhood favorites

 

@Justin.TX shoot me a PM and I'll chat with you about tons of stuff to do and see. I live in Las Cruces so I can probably even meet up with you and take you to lunch or something. I know all of the areas you'll be traveling ....