Lonely Planet Best Road Trips Southwest USA by Lonely Planet

Author:Lonely Planet
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: best-road-trips-southwest-usa-5
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Published: 2024-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

03 Red River

A blend of Bavaria and the Old West, Red River brings people in with festivals and events year-round – except mid-March to mid-May, when the town is dead. In summer, kids love Frye’s Old Town Shootout, a Wild West drama.

THE DRIVE

A 40-mile drive, continue east on Hwy 38, over Bobcat Pass (9820ft) and down through the little lakeside village of Eagle Nest. Drive Hwy 64 east through curvaceous Cimarron Canyon, where there’s good fishing, camping and rock climbing.

04 Cimarron

Cimarron has a wild past. It once served as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, and a hangout for gunslingers, train robbers, desperadoes, lawmen and other Wild West figures including Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, Jesse James and Doc Holliday. The old St James Hotel alone saw the deaths of 26 men within its walls. Today, the restored hotel is said to be so haunted that one of its rooms is never rented out. It’s really the main reason for stopping in Cimarron, either for the night or a bite to eat.

THE DRIVE

Head 5 miles south on Hwy 21. You might see herds of Boy Scout burros here!

DETOUR

Capulin Volcano National Monument

Start: 04 Cimarron

Rising 1300ft above the surrounding plains, Capulin is the most accessible of several volcanoes in the area. From the visitor center at Capulin Volcano National Monument (nps.gov/cavo), a 2-mile road spirals up the mountain to a parking lot at the crater rim (8182ft), where trails lead around and into the crater. From Cimarron, take Hwy 64 north, hop on I-25 for 5 miles, take exit 451, and head east on Hwy 87/64. The park entrance is 3 miles north of Capulin village, off Hwy 325. The visitor center, on Western Trail at Unser Blvd, is 7.5 miles north of Old Town; head west on I-40 across the Rio Grande and take exit 154 north.

05 Philmont Scout Ranch

The largest Boy Scout camp in the country, Philmont Scout Ranch covers 137,000 acres along the breathtaking eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristos. While you need to be a Scout to trek the trails, anyone can drop into the Philmont Museum (philmontscoutranch.org) or tour Villa Philmonte, a Spanish Mediterranean mansion built in 1927 by Waite Phillips, the oil baron who was Philmont’s original benefactor. Pick up high-quality outdoor gear and all sorts of Philmont-related souvenirs at Tooth of Time Traders.

THE DRIVE

Continue south, then east, on Hwy 21. Look out for antelope! At Springer, pick up I-25 south. Before long, you’ll see why Wagon Mound is so-named. Get off the interstate at exit 345. It’s a 98-mile drive.

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