After the Arkansas game in Dallas, The Wife and I are heading out the next day for Santa Fe. Along the way, we're going a little off course and spending a night in beautiful Dumas (because I loved living there long ago). The question is, if I take the scenic route to Dalhart - Clayton - Springer - Las Vegas - Santa Fe, is it an interesting drive with decent roads? Dumas - Boys Ranch - Vega is another option. I've never taken I-40 west of Tucumcari, so that might be ok.

Roads are fine from Dumas up to Raton, but there is not much out there except for the dormant volcano at Capulin, which can be driven up and hiked.

It is a well traveled road as it is one of the main roads from Texas PanHandle to the NorthEast NM / SouthEast Colorado corridor.

There is also the wonderful 'Safety Corridor' that lasts for 20+ miles and all speeding fines are doubled. Haven't seen it too heavily patrolled, but I don't speed through there as it seems to be important to them for you not to speed.

One other note, if going through Tucumcari, stop and eat at Del's. Some of the best New Mexican food around.
It is right off Hwy 6 on the east side of town. Their stuffed sopapilla enchiladas are to die for.

I've done Dumas to Raton many times, and that road is not the one I'm really asking about. It's Clayton to Las Vegas that I'm unfamiliar with.

412 from Clayton to Springer is a lower standard of road than 87 to Raton but is not in bad condition. That stretch is remote from a distance to humans standpoint and some of it is so unremarkable as a landscape that it becomes remarkable in its own right.

If the air is nice and clear, you get to watch the Sangre de Cristos get bigger in your windshield for quite a while.

If you're going to go that far out (Dumas) of the way, why drive down the interstate at all? Go up through Cimarron and then down the other side through Red River or Angel Fire.

it's a bit out of your way but for me, if I am within 100 miles the No Scum Allowed saloon in White Oaks is a must stop. I've had a few truly memorable and not so memorable evenings there!

I'm listening……..

aggiez03 said:

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One other note, if going through Tucumcari, stop and eat at Del's. Some of the best New Mexican food around.
It is right off Hwy 6 on the east side of town. Their stuffed sopapilla enchiladas are to die for.

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Ha we used to stay the night in Tucumcari whenever we went up to the enchanted circle and get ostrich burgers. Do they still have the ostrich farm there?

I just about did this same drive back in January. The roads were good, but there isn't much out there which is neat in it's own way. The part from Springer to Red River is really neat.

The Dumas-Boys Ranch- Vega isn't that neat of a drive and Is on one of the more dangerous roads in the Panhandle in my opinion. It seems like there is a head-on collision on that road once a month that involves a death.

If you truly don't care about time, take a left at Esteline and go to Turkey. From there go to Tulia and on up I-27 to Amarillo. It's a really neat way to see the caprock.

On the return trip, 39 from Abbott, NM to Logan, NM is a road I'll never forget. I bet you'll see less than 10 cars in 94 miles on that highway. Going west to east, it's pancake flat for about 40 miles then there's a steep grade sign and you descend ~1,000 vertical feet in 2.5 miles and back to flat land. There are some great views in the descent and 1 of the 3 times I driven it, I descended through a cloud layer.

B-1 83 said:

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I'm listening……..

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first time i went there, when we walked in there was a goat standing in the bar and a cat on a table bleeding. A giant of a bartender (for whom the bar was later named) kicked the goat in the ass, shoed the cat off the table, wiped it down with a wet dirty rag and offered us the table. We decided to stand at the bar instead.

The giant bartender (also owner at the time) is gone now and is banned for life from the bar. It's a lot nicer place now too, but has lost a bit of it's charm.

aggiez03 said:

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One other note, if going through Tucumcari, stop and eat at Del's. Some of the best New Mexican food around.
It is right off Hwy 6 on the east side of town. Their stuffed sopapilla enchiladas are to die for.

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Damn was just in tucumcari a few weeks ago

TxAg20 said:

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On the return trip, 39 from Abbott, NM to Logan, NM is a road I'll never forget. I bet you'll see less than 10 cars in 94 miles on that highway. Going west to east, it's pancake flat for about 40 miles then there's a steep grade sign and you descend ~1,000 vertical feet in 2.5 miles and back to flat land. There are some great views in the descent and 1 of the 3 times I driven it, I descended through a cloud layer.

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One of my favorites! I always loved the sign that read "rough road next 25 miles" which I always assumed was put up because there wasn't enough traffic to justify fixing it. But last time through in July, they were in the process of improvements.

I think I'm confused by the question. If going from Dalhart to Santa Fe through the towns you listed you'd be using US87, 412/56, then I25 right? Pretty sure that's the normal/fastest route, not the "scenic"?

Pretty much all of those options...this time of year...you will see more pronghorns than humans. That's always a plus!

The way to go is through Springer too Cimarron to Eagle Nest to Angel Fire to Taos and then to Santa Fe. A lot longer trip, but beautiful. Used to live in Angel Fire.

rednecked said:

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it's a bit out of your way but for me, if I am within 100 miles the No Scum Allowed saloon in White Oaks is a must stop.

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Yeah, only about 400 miles out of the way

As has been said, the shortest route isn't too scenic. The other problem with that route may be 412. I haven't been on it in a while , but the speed limit was 60. It wasn't heavily patrolled, but I have seen highway patrol on it, and that's a long dull stretch to be watching your speed. If you do take the scenic route others have suggested, be aware that there's road construction on the pass just outside Angel Fire, and you have a good chance of being stopped for a while waiting for a pilot car.

Pretty sure there were some bad fires in that area of NM not long ago. I wonder if it has recovered?

FrecklesDad said:

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The way to go is through Springer too Cimarron to Eagle Nest to Angel Fire to Taos and then to Santa Fe. A lot longer trip, but beautiful. Used to live in Angel Fire.

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Did this for the first time in July.

Beautiful scenery.

Was surprised AF is over 8000ft elevation

Yeah, my home was at 9200 ft. Took some folks a little getting used to when visiting.

StockHorseAg said:

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The Dumas-Boys Ranch- Vega isn't that neat of a drive and Is on one of the more dangerous roads in the Panhandle in my opinion. It seems like there is a head-on collision on that road once a month that involves a death.

If you truly don't care about time, take a left at Esteline and go to Turkey. From there go to Tulia and on up I-27 to Amarillo. It's a really neat way to see the caprock.

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Highway 287 from Boys Ranch to Dalhart has been widened in the past few years. Much better than in the past.

It's a back track from Dumas, but Highway 354 between Masterson and Channing is desolate yet interesting. And you can visit the old XIT business office in Channing

Sort of agree with the Estelline cutoff. Good drive, eat at Bison cafe in Quitaque. Take at least an hour and check out Caprock Canyons park. But don't continue to Tulia. Turn north on 207 and at least go look at the beautiful Tule Canyon just below the dam at Lake Mackenzie.

Then continue north on 207 to the overlook on the south rim of Palo Duro Canyon. From there, either backtrack to the FM road through Wayside to Canyon. Or go on north to Claude then Amarillo

So many ways from Dalhart to Santa Fe.

Clayton (Dino trackway at the lake, Eklund Hotel) to Springer is desolate with few facilities, but decent roads.

Highway 72 over the top of Johnson Mesa is out of your way, but a beautiful drive. Goes from Folsom to Raton.

Cimmaron is cool, and the drive from there to Angel Fire to Taos to Santa Fe is pretty

Las Vegas is interesting and Fort Union is cool. Can see Santa Fe Trail swales. Those are also on the route to Cimmaron

I'll have to revisit this thread when I'm back on a desktop. I'll give you a list of things to see, and you can Google and make your decision. For example, you can either cutoff at the speed trap at Estelline, or stay on 287 and visit the Charles Goodnight home.

Another fun option is to turn south off 412 on NM 39. Go south to Mills Canyon in Cibola National Grasslands. You can camp on the rim or in the Canadian River canyon. Then follow NM 120 down one side/up the other of the Canadian River Gorge, across I-25, and up into the mountains from the south into Angel Fire.

From there it's further to go through Red River/Questa than directly into Taos. But there's no construction that way and I think it's prettier. I went Angel Fire to Taos on 7/1 and the construction wasn't a big hang up.

Go through Santa Rosa

https://www.santarosabluehole.com/

TxAg20 said:

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On the return trip, 39 from Abbott, NM to Logan, NM is a road I'll never forget. I bet you'll see less than 10 cars in 94 miles on that highway. Going west to east, it's pancake flat for about 40 miles then there's a steep grade sign and you descend ~1,000 vertical feet in 2.5 miles and back to flat land. There are some great views in the descent and 1 of the 3 times I driven it, I descended through a cloud layer.

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104 coming out of Las Vegas towards Alta Loma has a similar decent and I would also recommend. I love that area of New Mexico.

White Oaks……Years ago, I spent a couple of nights sleeping in the old historic schoolhouse during a Geology field trip.
It was miserably cold at night…..sleeping bag was not thick enough.

CanyonAg77 said:

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rednecked said:

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it's a bit out of your way but for me, if I am within 100 miles the No Scum Allowed saloon in White Oaks is a must stop.

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Yeah, only about 400 miles out of the way

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still worth it if you have the time!

VaultingChemist said:

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White Oaks……Years ago, I spent a couple of nights sleeping in the old historic schoolhouse during a Geology field trip.
It was miserably cold at night…..sleeping bag was not thick enough.

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A lot of cool history out there. Billy the Kid roamed those parts. He was known to have spent time in White Oaks.

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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I think I'm confused by the question. If going from Dalhart to Santa Fe through the towns you listed you'd be using US87, 412/56, then I25 right? Pretty sure that's the normal/fastest route, not the "scenic"?

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I should explain a little more…..

Having lived in Dumas for 7 years, I've seen about everything around there, but eastern New Mexico has always intrigued me and is much more interesting than the Texas I-40 chunk into New Mexico. In my old profession, I had lots of clients who ran cattle around Springer and Las Vegas, and they always talked about what good country it was.

Clayton to springer. 83 miles of nothing. But pretty ranch country. Stop at Gladstone store. Avoid dorcey mansion.
Springer take 25 all the way to Santa Fe.

A Dumas Aggie checking in here. On trips to Santa Fe we like to go through Channing then to Tucumcari and Las Vegas. It has been several years since we have been but the roads were decent. Beautiful drive when you get into the mountains there.

A bit out of the way, but the drive from Capulin Volcano NP up 72 and over Johnson Mesa is pretty special. You feel like you've gone back in time.