It's been a long time coming.

[El_Taco]

I've wanted to run down a curvy mountain road for about ten years now, eve since I first took off on two wheels. Well, I did it today. I've wanted to take a motorcycle down US82 since I first traversed it about five years back. I don't have a bunch of pictures of the scenery, but I do have a few of the bike in places I stopped.

I guess we should start in Fresnal Canyon. What do you do when you're cruising along, and suddenly you find yourself at a water crossing?

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I stopped on that side, but had to back up and take the other side. What looked like mud was mortar from the road bed. If you look close, you can see a little six foot falls on the right side. In places, the water was ten inches deep, but I never found any deeper than three inches or so with my tires.

We made it up the mountain to High Rolls just fine, but we were boiling when we pulled up on the highway, so we stopped at the now closed general store and allowed the bike to cool. After topping off, we headed up the steep climb towards Cloudcroft, but didn't make it more than about five miles. I had forgot to replace the overflow cap, so when it started boiling over, I got wet.

I found standing on the side of the road isn't as bad when you're standing next to an early Goldwing.

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Anyhow, we made it up to Cloudcroft and had lunch at the Western Bar. I remembered how much I love green chile burgers, and Newcastle Brown Ale. After the bike cooled, I topped it off, and it was mostly downhill from there. A little run down 6563 didn't boil at all.

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Onward to the Haynes Canyon Vista, and still it didn't get hot.

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Came all the way back down to Alamogordo, had a great time, and still didn't get hot. Rode across the flats back home, still cool. I know I still have a few things to do on the bike, but it was great all the same to get out for a good ride. I'm ready for another sixty hours of polishing, and maybe a whole month of dis assembly.

[VintageGW's]

Looks like a great ride! One of my NM favorite rides with twisties, though shorter than your ride, is the enchanted circle that starts and ends in Red River. Glad to hear that everything worked well on the outing!

[sunnbobb]

Nice pics, I spent 1956 in Alamagordo, my first memories. Sand. lol

[El_Taco]

I moved here from west Texas for the scenery, the abundance of nearby federal land, and the endless potential for recreation that can be had therein.

[El_Taco]

Nice pics, I spent 1956 in Alamagordo, my first memories. Sand. lol

In that last picture, you can see the sand in the air down in the basin. Another mountain range, the San Andres, can usually be seen across the basin. The sand has obscured them entirely. When I can't see them from my place, it means the wind is up, or will be soon.

[Sagebrush]

Nice ride. The wife and I will be riding through Ruideso and Cloudcroft next month after Roady's BBQ. Were looking forward to the NM scenery. I moved this to Ride Reports this thread seemed a better fit here.

[El_Taco]

If you're going to tour around Ruidoso, I suggest you make Carrizozo a jump off point, if you're coming from the north or west. If you've never been to Capitan (or on top of the mountain at 10,000') then you've missed out on some great views. You can ride the Wing out to Capitan Pass on a pretty well maintained county road, but to go up the mountain from there you'll need something a little more aggressive.

I wish I could say more about the White Oaks area, but I have yet to explore that way.

I don't know if the drive down SH48 is better going to or coming from Ruidoso, I suggest you go both ways if you have the time.

At the Brewer north of town is the sign for Ski Apache, cut off and go there, it's an amazing 10 miles or so. Pretty sure the road is closed to uphill traffic by four or five. I can't wait to whip my Wing around Axle Bend.

Take 244 south to Cloudcroft, it's easy to miss, much more scenic than driving down to Alamo, with a lot of tight curves and an average speed of 45mph. Watch out for elk.

Take 6563 from SH130 south of Cloudcroft, and go as far as you please. Don't get lost in Timburon, it's not hard to do. I'd suggest that you turn around when the pavement ends, but only because I get lost in Timburon every time. We always take the Jeep down the West Side Road out of High Rolls, which deposits us on 6563 just south of Sunspot, which we take back to Cloudcroft. There's some neat stuff out there I'm probably not supposed to know about, but I'm sure you want to keep it on paved roads.

If you're going to be around for a day or two, you might consider Three Rivers. About fourteen miles north of Tularosa on SH54, you turn east and run for the base of the Whites. About half way is the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, and at the end is a great campground with excellent views.

Even if you're not going to Alamo for anything, the ride from Cloudcroft back down to US70 is twenty miles of twists, turns, great views, and one tunnel.

Lots of stuff to see. PM me if you want to know about anything else.

[Sagebrush]

Thanks for the info but were leaving Roswell then heading to Ruidoso then Cloudcroft then on to White Sands and Las Crusas. We'll end up in Silver City for the night. Not much time to explore all the nooks and crannies but I have routed on NM 244 to from US 70 to US 82 between Ruidoso and Cloudcroft. We'll be on 1800s so not much adventure riding for us. I inspected NM 244 with Google Earth and it looks paved all the way, do you know if it is?

[El_Taco]

From one end to the other. Fairly well maintained, too. If that's the route you're taking, consider US380 north to Capitan, then take SH48 down into Ruidoso. It splits off from 70 and goes northwest a little ways. US70 is pretty boring, 380 takes you through the historic town of Lincoln, (Billy the Kid country) and it's not much of a detour. I wouldn't pass up a side trip out to Ski Apache, it's really the one and only reason I ever go to Ruidoso. I've walked the streets downtown, once was enough. If you like Mexican food, Lucy's Mexicali downtown on 48 is about the best in town. Otherwise, it's one massive tourist trap.

Cloudcroft is higher in elevation, lower in traffic. All the same, come through during the week if you can. Tourism runs full swing through the weekends, and traffic is nuts at times.

You can take the easy way through Deming to get to Silver City, but it's a whole hell of a lot more scenic if you run up I-25 to Caballo and cut west from there on 152. You can take a detour north at 35 to reach 15, where it's only a jog to get to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. I highly recommend this stop, if you're up for a short, albeit uphill hike into the cave. The driving is awe inspiring on those roads, the missus and I are huge fans of the Gila Country.

I don't know what you're looking at beyond Silver City, but if you head out west on 180, it curves to the north, and there's a ghost town called Mogollon that's absolutely worth riding to and through. It's a one way in, one way out for you, but it's paved all the way to the town.

Beyond that, 180 will take you on to Alpine, AZ, which is another highly recommended trek. Aside from the fact that the views are awesome, (much of AZ is) you take 191 south from there to Clifton, which is one of the highest rated motorcycle touring routes in the state.

We tend to spend a week at a time in and around the Gila. If you've never been through there, you'll find that once simply isn't enough. If you do get out around Silver city, keep in mind that the road from town to the National Monument is only 40 miles, but it takes two and a half hours with all the switchbacks and curves. If you come from Caballo, even if you don't plan on seeing the monument, I suggest you take 35 up to 15, and 15 back down to Silver City. The monument is played out for me, (been there three times now) but the roads never get old. Just before you get to Lake Roberts, there's a spot where the cliff face comes out over the road, and if you walk out on the old bridge at Percha Creek, the wall of the gorge creates an optical illusion that can cause you to lose your balance if you look at it while walking back to the parking area.

There's so much gorgeous country out there, it would take half a lifetime to see and appreciate all of it.

[El_Taco]

Oh, I just realized you said you were doing that all in one day, from Roswell to Silver City. I wouldn't plan on stopping anywhere, if you expect to make it. I wouldn't trust google maps for anything other than the route itself. Drive times are a joke, most of the time. When you split off from Ruidoso, going to Cloudcroft is about half an hour on 244. It's long, slow, and twisty. So is the route down from Cloudcroft to Alamo. Takes us about half an hour, up or down.

It takes about an hour to get out to the middle of White Sands and back to the visitor information center. Most of the monument road is packed sand. You'll make it just fine, just ride fairly slow.

You're going to get slowed down passing through Alamo, Organ and Cruces, and there's literally nothing to see from there to Silver City via Deming.

I could be wrong, but going to Silver City is about a day trip from here. It seems to take forever to get from one place to another around here.

[Sagebrush]

Well, I think we have most of what you're talking about covered, at least as much as time allows. This is our route from Roswell to Silver City. Six hours riding time it will take about 8 hours to complete. On the second day we'll be riding from Silver City to Gila Cliff Dwellings and then back to Silver City via 35. On the day after that we'll ride through Clifton to get to 191 and then up to Alpine where we'll stay the night. After that on to Albuquerque.

[El_Taco]

Looks good. Where you turn north for Mimbres on 152, I think Percha Creek is just a few more miles east. Definitely worth going to. The Cliff Dwellings are totally a day trip, as to go there from Silver City and back is going to take a good six hours. I would love to ride through Clifton, that's an awesome little town. The Morenci mine is depressing, but it's still cool to pass through our largest open pit copper mine.

Still, check out the detour up to Capitan from US70. It'll open up your loop there a little, but it's way more fun than just running 70 straight into Ruidoso.

You have my envy, that's one awesome route. Pardon my trying to cram as much as possible into the few hours you'll have, I just wish I could show these places to everyone.

However, the fact that few people know about this stuff makes it that much more special.