25 Best Sights in Northeastern New Mexico, New Mexico

Also known as Cold Beer, New Mexico (which is painted in huge white letters on the exterior), this little red roadhouse on the way to Cimarron from Raton continues a tradition from the Prohibition era. Among the joint's trademarks are an ongoing card game, Shiner Bock (a beloved beer from Shiner, Texas) on tap, Saturday-night dances, and a winter Jeopardy! tournament. The colorful staff and crowd make you feel right at home, especially if you're wearing cowboy boots.

As you head south on NM 518 toward Las Vegas, be sure to stop in the La Cueva Historic District. Among the buildings here, which date to the 1850s, is a stone-walled mill that supplied flour to the soldiers of Fort Union. Pioneer rancher Vicente Romero's mill also supplied power to the area until 1950; at what is now called the Salman Ranch, you can pick raspberries mid-August to mid-October, or buy fresh berries, raspberry jam and vinegar, and dried flowers and herbs at the original La Cueva Ranch Store. Brilliantly colored wildflower gardens, and homemade tamales, burgers, and raspberry sundaes served at the café draw families during "U Pick" raspberry season. The historic district's San Rafael Church, dating from the 1870s, is also worth a look.

To reach Capulin from Raton, skip U.S. 64 and instead take NM 72 past Sugarite Canyon State Park, a stunning road that climbs up over Johnson Mesa, from which you have amazing 100-mi views north over the mesa into the plains of eastern Colorado. It's bare and flat up here, as though you're driving across a table straddling the Colorado–New Mexico border. About halfway across the mesa (15 miles from Raton), note the old stone church to your right, which was built by the early farmsteaders and has since been abandoned—it's a beautiful, lonely little building with a presence that illustrates the life of solitude the mesa's settlers must have endured.

Farther along on the right, a historical marker details the 1908 discovery of Folsom Man by George McJunkin, which established the existence of indigenous inhabitants in the area dating back some 10,000 years. The road trails down the eastern side of the mesa and leads into tiny Folsom. Here make a right turn south on NM 325 to reach Capulin Volcano, 6 miles away.

More retro 1930s and '40s than Victorian, 2nd Street—Raton's main commercial drag—also has a number of handsome old buildings. The pride and joy of the neighborhood is the Shuler Theater, a 1915 European rococo–style structure whose lobby contains WPA murals depicting local history. The Shuler is one of the few remaining stages where all sets, curtains, and scenery are hand-operated with hemp rope and wooden pulleys. On weekdays between 10 and 5 the staff will happily take you on a free tour.

Sugarite Canyon State Park, a gem of a park near the Colorado state line, has some of the state's best hiking, camping, wildflower viewing, fishing, and bird-watching ("sugarite" is a corruption of the Comanche word chicorica, meaning "an abundance of birds," and is pronounced shug-ur-eet). The road to Sugarite twists and turns high up into the canyon to Lake Maloya, a trout-stocked body of water from which a spillway carries overflow down into the canyon. From its 7,800-foot elevation hills rise up the eastern and western canyon walls where miners once dug for ore; you can still see gray slag heaps and remnants of the coal camp, which thrived here from 1910 to 1940, along portions of the park road near the visitor center (the former coal-camp post office) and down near the base of the canyon. The center contains exhibits on the mining legacy, and from here you can hike 1½ mi to the original camp.

Hikes elsewhere in the park range from the easy ½-mi Grande Vista Nature Trail to the pleasant 4-mi jaunt around Lake Maloya to the challenging Opportunity Trail. "Caprock" is the name given to the park's striking basaltic rock columns, which were formed millions of years ago when hot lava from a nearby volcano created the 10- to 100-foot-thick rocks. Climbing is permitted on these sheer cliffs, although it's not recommended for the faint of heart.

From the crest of Capulin Volcano National Monument, elevation 8,182 feet, you can see four states: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. To the southeast is the vast section of the Santa Fe Trail that includes the Cimarron Cutoff; to the west are the snowcapped Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Unlike much of the dry surrounding territory, Capulin has enough water to support an oasis of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. A narrow 2-mi paved road leads to the rim of the volcano; from there you can walk the final 0.2 mi into the extinct, and not especially dramatic, crater vent. (An easy-to-hike 1-mi trail circles the rim, so you can see it from different angles.) The cone of Capulin (the word is Spanish for "chokecherry"; these bushes are scattered across the area) rises more than 1,300 feet from its base. The visitor center has books, a brief video about the site, and interpretive exhibits.

One of the most breathtaking stretches of highway in the state is U.S. 64 west from Cimarron through Cimarron Canyon State Park, which is actually just one small part of the immense 33,000-acre Colin Neblett Wildlife Area. The road passes through a steep and lush canyon banked by 400-foot crenellated granite palisades. Paralleling the road is the sparkling Cimarron River, which is known for its superb trout fishing. Wildlife (including elk, deer, and bear), granite cliff formations, a natural spring, an abandoned mine, and a visitor center are also draws. There's a campground beneath the pines, too, with spaces for RVs (no hookups) and tents, picnic tables, and pit toilets.

At the junction of NM 434 and NM 518, make a right and head a couple of miles north to Cleveland Roller Mill Museum, a fixture in Mora Valley, which served as the region's main flour mill in the late 1800s. Milling demonstrations are held over the Labor Day Millfest, and in summer you can visit the artists' cooperative, where local artisans sell their sculpture, weaving, jewelry, and other crafts. The museum is run by the proprietors of surrounding Cassidy Farms, a nursery specializing in native conifers and shrubs.

The Rincon Mountains rise to 9,500 feet to the west of NM 434, and to the east (a left turn off the highway) you can stop for a ramble at Coyote Creek State Park, which also has exceptionally good trout fishing and some campsites.

You can view more than 500 fossilized dinosaur tracks along the ½-mi wooden Dinosaur Trackway at Clayton Lake State Park, making this one of the few sites of its kind in the world. The tracks, estimated to be 100 million years old, were made when the area was the shore of a prehistoric sea. Eight species of dinosaurs, vegetarian and carnivorous, lived here. The sparkling lake that gives the state park its name is ideal for camping, hiking, and fishing.

From Cleveland Roller Mill you can either return via NM 518 to Las Vegas (about 30 mi) or continue north on NM 518 over the gorgeous eastern face of the Sangre de Cristo range. You'll eventually come to Peñasco, on the High Road to Taos, from which you can either go south to Santa Fe or north to Taos. The drive from Mora to Peñasco offers spectacular mountain views, and passes by old farmsteads and adobe hamlets slowly being worn down by the wind and weather.

West of Cimarron Canyon State Park, U.S. 64 passes over a high bald ridge, from which you'll be awarded a magnificent view over Eagle Nest Lake, the Moreno Valley, and the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the distance. Continue down through Eagle Nest Lake village toward Angel Fire. Then make a left turn (south) onto NM 434, which passes little Black Lake and offers one final view of the valley before narrowing sharply and plummeting into dark, deep, ponderosa pine–shrouded Guadalupita Canyon. Drive slowly: the road twists and turns and crosses several one-lane bridges over Coyote Creek.

South of Coyote Creek State Park on NM 434, you'll pass through tiny, insular El Turquillo. Here the highway widens as it opens into a broad sunny valley—to the east you'll spy the red-rock cliffs that form the face of Black Mesa, the land barrier between here and the eastern grasslands.

There are few better places in New Mexico to soak in wide-open prairie vistas, clear skies, and fresh air than in the 230,000-acre Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands. One section of the grasslands is near Clayton and spreads east into Oklahoma and Texas. Another prominent one is about 80 mi west of Clayton, closer to Springer, south of U.S. 56. In the section near Clayton, if you look carefully, you can see ruts made by the wagons that crossed on the Old Santa Fe Trail. The land was drought-stricken during the Dust Bowl of the 1920s and '30s, when homesteaders abandoned their farms. After that, the government purchased the land and rehabilitated it to demonstrate that it could be returned to the tall grassland native to the region.

For an enjoyable loop drive through the grasslands, head east out of Clayton on U.S. 56; at NM 406 head north to just past Seneca, to where NM 406 makes a sharp turn to the east. Take the county gravel road west 3 mi and north 1 mi, noting the interpretive sign about the Santa Fe Trail. Continue a little farther north to the green gate that leads to the trail (following the limestone markers), where you can see ancient wagon ruts. Except for the occasional house or windmill, the view from the trail is not much different from what the pioneers saw.

Costumed reenactments at Kit Carson Museum demonstrate 19th-century life on what was then the Maxwell Land Grant, but is now part of the incredible Philmont Ranch. Exhibits include a working horno (oven), blacksmith shop, and the Maxwell Trading Post—stocked as it might have been during Santa Fe Trail days. Period crafts are also demonstrated, and free tours are given.

In the early 20th century the Mission Santa Fe Depot, a 1903 Spanish Mission Revival structure, serviced several dozen trains daily (Amtrak still stops here).

The workers who toiled inside the sturdy, steep-roofed stone building that holds the Old Mill Museum once processed 300 barrels of flour a day for the Maxwell Ranch and the Jicarilla Apache reservation. Now the mill houses four floors of vintage photos, clothing, tools, and memorabilia depicting life in Colfax County from the 1860s into the 20th century.

The building houses both the Raton Arts & Humanities Council and the Old Pass Gallery, which presents exhibits of regional art, books, and jewelry.

The largest scouting venue in the world, 137,000-acre Philmont Scout Ranch has hosted nearly 1 million Boy Scouts throughout its history—about 21,000 currently visit every summer, and on any given day about 3,000 of them are out plying the property's miles of rugged trails. Phillips Petroleum magnate and Boy Scouts of American benefactor Waite Phillips established the mountainous ranch. The museums of the Philmont Scout Ranch include Villa Philmonte, the restored 1927 Spanish-Mediterranean summer home of Waite Phillips, furnished with European and Southwestern antiques and Native American and Southwestern art. Tours of the mansion are conducted in July and August. Scouting cofounder Ernest Thompson Seton donated most of the holdings of the Philmont Museum & Seton Memorial Library, among them New Mexican art and artifacts, Native American rugs and pottery, and books on natural history and the history of the Southwest.

The tiny storefront Raton Museum, inside the 1906 Coors Building (the beer manufacturer once used it as a warehouse), brims with artifacts of the coal camps, railroading, ranch life, and the Santa Fe Trail. The museum, which has a large and interesting photo collection, is a good first stop on a visit to the area. The docents enjoy explaining local history.

Southern California may have its "Hollywood" sign, but northeastern New Mexico has its RATON SIGN—and this neon-red beauty is completely accessible. From the north end of 3rd Street, head west on Moulton Avenue to Hill Street and follow signs along the twisting road to the parking area at Goat Hill. Here you can walk around the sign, take in 270-degree views of the countryside, or picnic while contemplating the history of Raton Pass—the original Santa Fe Trail ran up Goat Hill clear into Colorado.

As you come around a bend in NM 434 heading from El Turquillo toward Mora, behold the Sangre de Cristo range, specifically the east side of Trampas and Truchas peaks, from an angle few tourists ever see. Just before Mora and the intersection with NM 518 is an intricate network of irrigation ditches that farmers employ to keep this region so fertile.

One of New Mexico's great, although quite isolated, scenic routes heads northwest from U.S. 64 toward the town of Costillo (44 mi north of Taos on NM 522), affording great opportunities for sighting elk, deer, wild turkeys, and many other birds. The roughly 80-mi dirt road requires several hours of driving to complete—although it's okay for non–four-wheel-drive vehicles in summer and fall (assuming there hasn't been a major rainfall in a couple of days and you're comfortable driving on some pretty rough roads). The trip passes through the heart of pristine Valle Vidal, a remote 102,000-acre tract of high-mountain grasslands, ponderosa, aspen, and sandstone cliffs. The fishing (season is July to December) in this region is mighty fine—the native Rio Grande cutthroat trout is found only in the rivers here—and there are two campgrounds, Cimarron and McCrystal. The western section of the road is closed May through June for elk-calving season, and the eastern section is closed to protect the elks January through March. (for information on conservation efforts and history of Valle Vidal, visit www.vallevidal.org)

As you drive up Interstate 25 from Las Vegas and Fort Union, the high prairie unfolds to the east, an infinite horizon of grassland that's quite breathtaking when the sun sets. Wagon Mound (at Exit 387 off Interstate 25) is a butte shaped like a covered wagon, rising from the open plains. The butte is where travelers crossed over from the Cimarron Cutoff to journey south to Fort Union. Local lore tells of mysterious lights, ghosts, and murders committed on top of the butte. The tiny village has few services and is verging on "ghost town" status, with many of its few businesses having closed in recent years and a population dwindling to around 300.

The Wells Fargo Express Building, also designed in the Spanish Mission Revival style, was erected in 1910.