I consider New Mexico home territory and do day rides over and back many times during the year. Northern New Mexico has many rides that are worthy. Of course the enchanted circle of Taos, Red River, Questa, and Angel Fire is a nice ride and from Angel Fire to Taos can get congested, especially on the weekends (DamnTexans). If you are coming in from the Clayton/Springer route you have two choices to get to Cimarron. Up I25 about five miles and take Hwy 58 over to Cimarron and that will access Cimarron Canyon via Hwy 64.
Alternate route to Cimarron is Hwy 21 out of Springer through Miami, NM. Road surface is not as good (but nothing that slowing down a little won't cure) but a much prettier ride and it brings you by the Monster Philmont Boy Scout Camp which is a sight to see in the summertime when Scouts are there and tents and kids everywhere.
Cimarron Canyon to Eagles Nest is a great ride. Assuming everyone knows how to get around the Enchanted Circle I'll throw in some side bar rides in that area that I like.
Head north of Questa on Hwy 522 toward Colorado and about 5 miles or so you will almost miss Hwy 378 (left hand turn) called Wild Rivers Back Country Scenic Drive. It is a 25/30 mile in and out that has almost no traffic and pretty good blacktop. Pretty twisty and a fun ride. It will loop around and you will end up going out where you came in on Hwy 522.
If leaving Questa heading to Taos you will come to a village called Arroyo Hondo. You will be coming down the hill into the village and there is a bridge at the bottom. After going over the bridge there is a road immediately after the bridge, turn left onto Rio Hondo ( don't think this road has a number) and follow this road for about 15? miles (pay attention to driveways) and you will intersect with Hwy 150 that will take you up to Taos Ski Valley. Do not miss the road to the ski valley. About 10 miles up and back of pure motorcycle road. Julia Roberts lives in this area somewhere but I haven't been invited over yet.
Coming back down take 150 back into Taos and then decisions have to be made. You will come to intersection of 522/150/US64. A good choice is to take US 64 out to the Gorge Bridge. Might want to get off and walk out on the bridge if you haven't before. If you are afraid of heights then you may not want to do that.
Continue North West on 64 and you will come by some of the most alternative housing you will ever see. Pretty sure some Star Wars scenes were shot right there. It is a testament to man's desire to be different from the rest of civilization. My guess a bunch of old hippies enlightened on some sort of chemical and herb said "What if we built a house out of car tires?" It is a strange and fascinating place at the same time. My hat is off to doing it their way.
Continue on 64 to Tres Piedras. Other than the gorge bridge and alternative housing site this is 30 miles of pretty boring road but it does lead to a great road. If you want to know how fast your bike can go this 30 miles is a good place to find out.
64 from Tres Piedras to Tierra Amarilla is a great road with not much traffic, smooth sweepers with a few tight ones thrown in to keep you awake. Up over 10,000 feet and places to pull off for pretty views of where you are headed below. This road is affected by weather with closures during the winter so be aware of changing road surfaces and loose gravel. Normally not to worry but have seen some gravel where I did not expect.
Here you will pick up Hwy 84 into Chama. One of my favorites is take Hwy 17 north of Chama for about 35 miles or so then turn around and come back into Chama. Flat land to Alamosa, CO is nothing to get excited about so I just turn around and work on the sides of the tires instead of the middle.
Back in Chama you can decide to go back to Taos, Espanola, or Pagosa Springs, CO. Great road to Pagosa but Uncle Phil isn't asking about Colorado so back to New Mexico. If you go back to Taos then you can get through the traffic mess in Taos (Taos was not built back in the day for weekend touristas) and head to Mora or Espanola. Lets take two different routes to Mora. Taking Hwy518 to Mora is a great road. Not a terrible amount of traffic, great pavement, and speed limits that are too low (personally I think they are all too low) so you can meet a Trooper on this road. I have had a performance award on this road.
Another way to Mora from Taos is to go from Taos to Angel Fire (Enchanted Hwy) then from Angel Fire, Hwy 434 to Blacklake, turn right to stay on 434 and then into Mora. Road from Angel Fire to Blacklake is great. From Blacklake to Mora is great also but very different. Very narrow, be on your toes for meeting oncoming traffic. There are corners where two Surbubans are going to have a difficult time meeting but it is a great motorcycle road. If you come into Mora by this route you will intersect HWY 518 just past an old grist mill. Turn left and immediately will take a right turn on Hwy 94. Its quick and not well marked. Looks almost like an alley but it is the road and that will take you on a pretty twisty way instead of 518 which is for making time. You will hook back up with 518 at a store called Sapello. Take 518 into Las Vegas, NM and you are on your own from there.
If headed back east and south I would suggest Hwy 104 to Tucumcari. It's a back road that has its own beauty and Trujilo pass is fun. It will be hotter when you get down that pass. Not far from the bottom of that pass you will come to a small village called Trementia. There is a house and a Highway Department yard there and an old abandoned school house. You can take a left on Hwy 419 and it will take you the long way to Mosquero eventually. Or stay on 419 to continue on to Tucumcari. This is a very pretty ride with no traffic or cell phone service. From Mosquero you can head down to Logan and then decide to go back to I40 or elsewhere.
If you leave Taos heading to Espanola you can pick up the old road to Espanola/SantaFe. You will take State Road 75 and it can be accessed from two different ends. Taos to Mora or Taos to Espanola. Taking SR 75 from either direction will intersect with SR 76 which takes you along the spine of the mountains and is a pretty nice road. I've only been this way a couple of times so if any locals catch a mistake here please chime in,
If you take this route toward Espanola/SantaFe a good road to ride is take hwy 30 from Espanola and pick up 502 toward Los Alamos or if you come in below Espanola just pick up 502 and head toward Los Alamos. Check that gas tank before heading out on Hwy 4. Then pick up Hwy 4, Bandelier National Monument and follow it around to San Ysidro. There you will pick up Hwy 550 back into Bernalillo/Albuquerque or head toward Cuba and Farmington.
You don't have to go into Los Alamos to take Hwy 4, but just in case you want to visit where we learned to blow up the world you can loop around back to Hwy 4 from there. There is plenty of Sandia Lab land on Hwy4 that you can get shot on for trespassing or so the signs say. I usually grab a Subway and head to the forest, stop on the side of the road where an old dead tree is, and sit and eat my sandwich. Social distancing you see.
Ok, now some southern New Mexico. Uncle Phil will be coming down I 40 I'm guessing so you can turn off at Amarillo and head toward Roswell via Hwy 60. This way you can partake in the wonderful smell of cattle by the thousands in our feedyards. If recent rainfall even better. Or you can continue on to Santa Rosa NM on 40 and head off toward Vaughn, Hwy 54, and then to Carrizozo. There you can pick up Hwy 380 down to Lincoln for some Billy the Kid excitement OR should you be coming from Roswell you can pick up 380 from that direction. Backtracking you can catch Hwy 220 that will dump you back into Ruidoso that is a pretty neat road in the backcountry.
Ruidoso can make a base for a few roads around there. From Ruidoso toward Tularosa, Hwy 70, go out about 15? miles and catch NM 244 into Cloudcroft. Great road. Respect that 15 MPH sweeper about half way through. Its tighter than it looks.
Cloudcroft presents some decisions. Taking NM 130 south out of Cloudcroft I like to take a right on 6563 toward Sunspot observatory. If you take a hike up the hill from the parking lot you can take a look at the Sun through a telescope you have been paying for. Or you could back before Covid. Anyway it is a great MC road. Coming back down from Sunspot take a quick right on Sacramento Canyon Road down to Timberon. Its 15 miles down, turnaround and come back up, but zero traffic, save a horse trailer on a pickup maybe, excellent pavement, and no LEO's (at your own risk). Don't miss this one. Excellent scenery, old NM Ranch to see, just a great road.
Backtrack to Hwy 130, turn right and head toward Weed. You can make a short loop staying on 130 to Mayhill or make a bigger loop taking Hwy 24 to the right toward Weed and Pinion. Either the short loop or longer loop will take you back to US 82 which leads back into Cloudcroft.
My last favorite trip is overnighting in Socorro, NM. Up early and head down I25 and then catch Hwy 152 into Silver City. From Silver City take Hwy 180 all the way up to Alpine, AZ. Eat at the Bear Wallow cafe (no cell phones allowed) then head back down Hwy 191 (666) to Morenci and Clifton. This is a great MC road. Google says 90 miles to Morenci from Alpine. 2.5 hours. Its a great road with no traffic unless you meet the occasional car club screaming up or down the road. Then just pull off and listen to engines rev, downshift, brake, and all that stuff. Sweet music. Or hang with them.
Alternatively out of Socorro you can take US Hwy 60 and visit the VLA where we look for ET. From there you can wind around and end up in Alpine,
AZ and still do 191. If you have never seen the VLA its worth the trip. You can ride into the facility and get a good look at the tracks, telescopes, and there is a gift educational building but I have never gone in. Takes too much time away from riding.
If you end 191 in Morenci then depending on where you are headed its pretty much flat and fast. My normal two and a half day trip on this one is to leave Amarillo on Friday afternoon and ride to Socorro. Saturday goes to Silver City then Alpine and back down to I 10 and to Las Cruces for the night. Sunday takes me to Cloudcroft and a couple of rides around there and back to Amarillo in the afternoon.
Hope this helps. I'll turn this over to the AZ locals for their side of the border as I have only been up north of I40 and from Phoenix to Kingman once. Nice road there if you can ever get out of Phoenix.
Some of the stretches between roads to the MC roads and towns can be a stretch so keep an eye on the gas tank especially if you have a head wind.
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