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Road Trip: New Mexico Through the Windshield

On By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn American Road Trips, National Scenic Byway78 Comments

Oh, how we love to visit New Mexico. It truly is The Land of Enchantment! We are enchanted by all of New Mexico, but we are particularly fond of the northern half of the state with its gorgeous mountains, breathtaking landscapes, and intriguing Native American culture.

Adding to the enchantment, New Mexico has 15 national park units, three national historic trails, and seven national scenic byways! Since it’s impossible to stop for photos at every turn we decided to share a glimpse of what we’ve seen through the windshield on our road trips through the state. Please accept our apologies for the occasional blurs, bugs, and other imperfections. Enjoy the ride.

Northwest: The Four Corners Area

Mountains and wildflowers on US 160 near Four Corners Monument in the far northwest corner of the state.

Four Corners Monument is a Navajo park where the corners of the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona meet. Apart from our home state of Texas, those happen to be our four favorite states.

Here we are in all four states at once (kind of). Though not taken through the windshield, obviously, we had to stand in line to get our turn, and the people behind us were kind enough to take our picture.
Otherworldly landscape near Shiprock.
Ghostly Shiprock in a haze.

Shiprock is located on Navajo land about 15 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock. It is a 1,583-foot volcanic plug that is sacred to the Navajo people who believe the rock looks like a bird. According to legend, a big bird carried their ancestors to the top of the rock in order for them to settle in the area. The name Shiprock was coined by explorers in the 1800s who thought it looked like a ship.

Gorgeous Navajo landscape as seen from the highway near Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Heading south on Highway 550.

North Central: Closest to Santa Fe

Highway 442 near Taos

Highway 96 near Abiquiu Lake northwest of the town of Abiquiu (Abba-cue).
Near Los Alamos – Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway (click for website).
Another gorgeous Jemez Mountains view. (It’s not a video – that’s a road sign.)
On the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway (click for website) near the small town of Cerillos.
From Highway 14 – Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe.

West Central: Closest to Albuquerque

Highway 117 about 20 miles south of I-40 near Grants
Highway 53 between El Morrow National Monument and Ramah
On Highway 55 north of Mountainair, New Mexico

East Central: The Middle of Nowhere

Desolation. Highway 60 between Clovis and Fort Sumner.

South Central: Closest to Roswell

Sierra Blanca peak near Ruidoso.
Featured photo. Sacramento Mountains off of Highway 54.
Free range cattle near Carlsbad.

Southwestern: Closest to Las Cruces

The following views were from I-10 between Las Cruces and Lordsburg.

Are you enchanted yet? 

Thank you so much for joining us on our journey! We hope that we’ve given you a glimpse into the beautiful and diverse landscapes of New Mexico through our windshield. Our closing shot is from the north central area of the state.

If you’re looking for additional road trip inspiration, try these ideas:

Safe travels, y’all!

Mike and Kellye

As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our opinions are our own.

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