New Mexico features 26 recognized State Scenic Byways

(continued from Page 27) of buildings have served as set backdrops for a number of movies, including Young Guns and Young Guns II. A few small shops and the Casa Grande Trading Post (tripling as a mining museum and petting zoo) rounds out a memorable stop. On your way out, note the tree on Main Street near the historic Saint Joseph Church. It served as the town’s official “hanging tree” during the Old West period.

Northwest: Trail of the Ancients

Distance: 660 miles

Drive time: Allow two to three days, as a full day can easily be spent at Chaco Culture National Historic Park.

The drive: The Trail of the Ancients is actually a collection of National Scenic Byways that traverse the Four Corners states of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. It was designated as a byway to highlight significant prehistoric archaeological sites of the Southwest’s Native peoples. Here, we focus on the New Mexico scenic byway. Since the route takes many roads – including U.S. Route 64, U.S. Route 550, NM 57, NM 122, as well as Navajo Nation roads - the byway could be accessed from a variety of points. However, the NM Department of Transportation suggests the following:

Start at the intersection of US 550 and San Juan County Road 7950. Head south 26 miles to the Chaco Culture National Historic Park Visitors’ Center, then head further south toward Crownpoint on NM 371. Beyond Crownpoint, the byway leaves 371 for Navajo Road 48, which dead-ends at McKinley County Road 19. Here the byway turns right and winds through sandstone buttes that could be a John Wayne western set, to ruins of Casamero Pueblo. Follow NM Hwy. 122 to Grants, and then take NM Hwy. 53 through El Malpais, “the badlands.” Driving west, pass by El Morro and head on through the remarkable Zuni Pueblo. Circle back north to Gallup on NM Hwy. 62 and then on north from there to two famous trading posts, Toadlena and Two Grey Hills. Finally, follow U.S. 64 toward Farmington and on past the sacred and distinctive Shiprock rock formation to the Arizona border.

The Trail of the Ancients New Mexico Scenic Byway provides an otherworldly route into the ancient past. It provides insight into the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans and the Navajo, Ute, and Apache peoples and offers an opportunity to see geological features unlike anywhere else on the planet. These include colorful canyons, volcanic formations, and sandstone buttes, across both desert terrain and dense