Geronimo Scenic Byway

There are two legs of the Geronimo Scenic Byway, both branching off west of I-25 with Elephant Butte midway between the two. We took the northern route one day and drove the southern route a second day.

Chloride Ghost Town

Chloride got its start in 1880 when a rich silver strike was discovered. By 1900 it was a quiet village and today only twelve people are permanent residents.

The Grafton Cabin is now a historical site.

The General Store is now a museum. When the town folded, the proprietors of the store just locked the doors and left everything in place.

Most of the items in the General Store are the original merchandise.

End of the North Scenic Road

The north Scenic Byway ends at Beaverhead Ranger Station. From there the road turns into a high-clearance dirt road.

Emory Pass

After passing through a number of "Ghost Towns", our first stop along the southern route was Emory Pass at 8,168-foot elevation.

Almost 140,000 acres were burned from a lightning strike during this month-long fire, the largest in New Mexico history.

Great views from the top. We could see Elephant Butte Lake over 50 miles away.

Santa Rita Copper Mine

We made a stop at this active copper mine. 

Currently 100,000,000 pounds of copper is extracted from this mine each year. The mine works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

They started digging this pit in 1910. For a time, it was the largest open pit copper mine on the planet.

Big tire from 2.5-million-dollar dump truck.

Since the ore contains less than one percent copper, most of the material extracted is dumped into massive tailing piles all around the area. This is one of many piles.

Old bridge from 1927 and new Percha Canyon Bridge.

Lake Valley Historic Ghost Town

The town of Lake Valley was founded in 1882 with a large silver discovery. During the depression of 1893 the town was abandoned due to declining silver prices. It is now being preserved by the Bureau of Land Management.

General Store

Some of the old homes.

The schoolhouse has been converted into a BLM office and Visitor Center.

Elephant Butte

We arrived at Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort on September 1 for a week.

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

This National Wildlife Refuge is located just south of Socorro, New Mexico. 

The Refuge has a very nice visitor center and is over 57,000 acres.

Thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese arrive here beginning in October and winter on the Refuge.

There is a 14-mile self-guided auto tour loop. Some of the American White Pelicans have already made their stop over during their migration.

Fort Craig National Historic Park

Fort Craig, established in 1854, was one of the largest and most important frontier forts in the West. Set in the rugged beauty of Socorro County, N.M., it was one of the eight forts situated along the primary north-south road in the Rio Grande Valley. Fort Craig played a crucial role in Indian campaigns and the Civil War. The fort is in a rather remote location, about four miles off I-25 on a gravel road on property managed by Bureau of Land Management.

This is part of what is left, the Commanding Officer's Quarters.

Veterans Memorial Park and Hamilton Military Museum in Truth or Consequences

The museum was quite extensive and held memorabilia of all wars involving the US military.

This is a half scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington DC. After traveling the United States for three years, it found its permanent home in T or C, New Mexico.

Elephant Butte Lake and Dam

Just down the road from our campground is the Elephant Butte Lake and State Park. The lake was quite busy over the Labor Day Holiday weekend.

The Elephant Butte Dam was built in 1912 and enhanced in 1938.

The dam is 1674 feet long and over 300 feet tall and holds back the Rio Grande River.

The lake is currently about 5% full.

The namesake of the lake - Elephant Butte. Using your imagination, it looks like an elephant laying down with its head to the far left.

Jemez Mountains

One beautiful day, we took the Jemez Mountain Trail Scenic Byway. We picked up New Mexico State Road 4 out of San Ysidro. This scenic road climbs up into the Jemez Mountains passing through Jemez Springs and on to Los Alamos. However, the scenic byway branches off onto State Road 126 and proceeds over the Jemez Mountains to Cuba, New Mexico.

Gillman Tunnels

These two tunnels were built by the Sante Fe Northwestern Railroad who no longer use them. They are located along Forest Road 376 about six miles west of NM 4. 

The road was temporarily closed just prior to the tunnels to all motor vehicles, so it made a great hiking trail.

The railroad tunnels were blasted out of the rock in the 1920's.

The tunnels ceased to be used by the railroad in the 1940's after continued flooding and were later converted into a narrow-paved mountain road.

We discovered a cascading waterfall after we emerged from the second tunnel.

The Guadalupe River drops down through this box canyon.

The road continues 11 miles beyond the tunnels, but we returned to the truck.

Jemez State Historical Site

The State Historic Site is located in the town of Jemez Springs. This Gisewa Village was built in the 14th century. 

Restored Kiva

Access through the roof.

The San Jose de los Jemez Mission was built in the 1620's by the Spanish on top of some of the ancient foundations.

The Franciscans abandoned the mission in 1640 after only 20 years.

Fenton State Park

The paved portion of NM 126 ended at a fish hatchery, three miles past the state park. After all the recent monsoon rains, we chose to return to San Ysidro instead of completing the loop over the mountains on the unimproved mountain road.

Fenton State Park is 8 miles west on NM 126.

Soda Dam Hot Springs

This interesting formation along the Jemez River is made up of calcium carbonate and travertine. This is the result of a grouping of fifteen hot springs.  The deposit has built up over 7,000 years.

The river flows through the dome-like bridge created by the deposition of these minerals.

The hot spring water is heated by volcanic magma of the Valles Caldera.

Albuquerque

Returning to Cochiti Lake COE we completed a 500-mile, 8-week, circle loop tour of northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado.

Albuquerque ABQ Bio-Park Zoo

This is a very nice modern zoo that seems to be undergoing continuous improvements.

The flamingos are always fun to watch.

This handsome lion was keeping his eye on us.

Petroglyph National Monument

We visited the Boca Negra Canyon section of this National Monument, northwest of downtown.

Over 24,000 images carved by ancestorial Pueblo People have been identified, preserved, and documented in the Monument.

This looks like a piranha. We don't think they were in New Mexico.

El Pinto Restuarant

We are finding ourselves enjoying all the New Mexico Restaurants. We returned to El Pinto after stopping here for dinner in the Spring of 2013.

New Mexico Hatch Chilies adorn the front entry.