VIEW THE MOUNTAINS AND MESAS OF THE HILL COUNTRY FROM CAPULIN VOLCANO NATIONAL MOUNUMENT
ALONG THE DRY CIMARRON
THE BACKROADER’S BACKROAD: HOW SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR SARAH ROOKE SAVED FOLSOM AND BUFFALO SOLDIER GEORGE MCJUNKIN CHANGED HISTORY BY DISCOVERING THE FOLSOM POINTS
RATON
At an altitude of 6,680 feet, the jumping-off point for this journey through northeast New Mexico is at the northernmost exit on I-25 before crossing over Raton Pass to Colorado.
With beginnings as a watering station on the Santa Fe Trail called Willow Springs, the town sprang up in 1879 with the purchase of acreage from the Maxwell Land Grant. With the coming of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway over the 7,835-foot pass, it was the highest point on the line. It was crossed by the Indians and the Spanish for centuries. The AT&SF triumphed over the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in a bitter battle for right-of-way to the pass. So important was coal mining there that Raton took on the nickname the Pittsburgh of the West. For years, the town ran on railroading, ranching, and coal mining; however, Main Street is largely deserted now, and this small town seems not just quiet, but in decline, with too many boarded-up storefronts and houses in disrepair. Here is where the Rocky Mountains roll out to meet the Great Plains; here is the journey into the wide-open grasslands where antelope roam. A century ago, this place suffered “the worst hard time,” as author Tim Egan called Dust Bowl days. But this is a place to experience mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, fishing, and camping in the summer; and in the winter, there’s ice fishing and snowshoeing. At other times, you can avoid crowds and have mountain meadows of wildflowers and starry dark skies all to yourself.
Descending from the mesa for 12 miles leads to Folsom, population 54, at the junction of NM 72, 325, and 456, and 38 miles east of Raton off NM 72, named for Frances Folsom, future wife of President Grover Cleveland, who visited here. Go right on NM 456. This sleepy not-quite-ghost-town with its remains of a hotel and general store was once a bustling stockyard and railroad shipping point that had its beginnings in 1887, when the Colorado & Southern Railroad came through. However, in 1908, the town suffered a disastrous flood. No one expected a flood from the Dry Cimarron, a river so named because it runs underground for miles. The town was washed away and 17 people died. Many were saved through the efforts of telephone operator Sarah J. Rooke, who gave her life to notify villagers of the impending disaster. A historic marker in her honor stands beside the Folsom Museum, (once the 1896 Doherty Mercantile), a hodgepodge of western gear, vintage costumes, household goods, photos, and rusty farm equipment. Folsom’s other famous citizen was George McJunkin, the African American freed slave cowboy who became foreman at the Crowfoot Ranch, who, just after the big flood, discovered 19 chipped bone arrowheads in a Pleistocene bison bone, now known as the Folsom Points. In 1926, this discovery ultimately helped rewrite archaeology, as it showed that this land was inhabited as far back as 15,000 years ago. The points are on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Four miles northeast of Folsom on NM 456 are spring-fed waterfalls known as Folsom Falls, now closed to the public, on the Dry Cimarron. The town is also known as the place of Black Jack Ketchum’s (of the Hole in the Wall Gang) last train robbery, where he was captured. Ketchum was taken to Clayton and hanged on Main Street; he was decapitated in the process.
THE FOLSOM MUSEUM, CURATED CIRCA 1928, IS CROWDED WITH VINTAGE TREASURES
At Folsom, choose between two very different routes. Either one will take the rest of the day: The Dry Cimarron, the purest stretch of lonesome road you are likely to encounter anywhere in the West, or traveling to Clayton via Capulin along US 64/US 87 will both last 54 miles. It is also possible to make a loop by heading out along the Dry Cimarron and back along NM 72; however, to see and do everything along the way, it would be best to overnight in Clayton.
DRY CIMARRON ROUTE
Take NM 456 east to NM 406 40 miles north of Clayton.
At Tollgate Canyon, Charles Goodnight trailed many cattle from Texas to Wyoming between 1866 and 1869. He thought the toll was too high to go through Raton Pass, and he found another pass to travel. It came north from the Canadian River toward Capulin Crater, then it went west and dropped down to the Dry Cimarron about 1.5 miles west of Folsom, the Picketwire (Purgatoire) River in Colorado and on to Wyoming. Trinchera Pass was an easier grade than Raton Pass and free of tolls. This became known as the Goodnight Trail, or the Goodnight Loving Trail (1867–76). This era and the men of this time were celebrated in Larry McMurtry’s classic book Lonesome Dove. Return from the museum to the right to find Folsom Falls. It is located 4 miles northeast of Folsom, New Mexico, on NM 456. Pass a cemetery on the right, and take NM 456 to the Dry Cimarron, so named because the river flows underground, fed by springs, for much of its course, which ends atop Johnson Mesa. It is very dry, dusty, and covered with scrub vegetation. The road turns to dirt and gravel in stretches. Local lore maintains this deserted roadway was a bootlegging route during Prohibition; indeed, it is difficult to imagine a better place to smuggle rum.
This is a backroader’s backroad dream; there is very little if any traffic, save the occasional ranch truck. Take extreme caution during summer thunderstorms, because the roadway becomes hazardous. Allow a half-day to travel the 215 miles east toward Clayton on the rough asphalt two-lane road. The desert vegetation of sage and yucca, apache plume, and salt bush is broken by the occasional windmill and ranch sign or spot a jack rabbit or coyote. The scenery, with its buttes, red cliffs, and black lava-topped mesas, is isolated and wild, quintessentially western. Continue east on NM 456, crossing the Dry Cimarron River several times. At Travessier, there is a picturesque overlook which is the entrance into the Dry Cimarron Valley. On the north side, you will see a colored sandstone formation that has the appearance of a battleship. On the north side of the route, you will see Wedding Cake, a round mound rising about 300 feet above the valley floor, with its grass-covered slope and red, white, and brown layers of sandy rock, aptly named because it appears to be a large layered cake. In early days, many couples exchanged wedding vows atop this geographic formation. The Dry Cimarron Valley contains many natural features such as Battleship. Instead of turning toward Clayton, counter-intuitively turn toward Oklahoma. Just before the Oklahoma border, turn right (south) on Highway 406 toward McNees Crossing. A state historic sign sits in the actual “ruts” of the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail, still visible. A short distance to the north is a gate (close it). To the east is a windmill and nearby is a small marker erected in 1921 on the 90th anniversary of the first celebration of the Fourth of July in what is now New Mexico. The trail crosses the North Canadian River, which is also called Corrumpa Creek by locals. The crossing is named for a young scout of an east-bound caravan who was killed in 1828.
WINDMILLS STILL WORK ALONG THE DRY CIMARRON
From McNees Crossing, it is 23 miles to Clayton. Turn right at US 56.
CAPULIN ROUTE THROUGH RATON-CLAYTON VOLCANIC FIELD
From Folsom go 7 miles on NM 325 South to Capulin Volcano National Monument. A visitor center with videos, a well-stocked bookstore, and informative exhibits provides a worthwhile introduction to this relatively young, 58,000- to 62,000-year-old volcano. Behind the Visitor Center is a short nature walk, a 10-minute-long, easy, paved, accessible, pet-friendly trail. Capulin, meaning wild plum or chokecherry, was once a hunting ground for Plains Indians. It is still considered a sacred site by Jicarilla Apache people who continue making ceremonial visits here. Drive up to the trailhead of a moderate-to-difficult mile-long trail around the 8,125-foot-high volcano rim that allows views of five states: New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Best of all, the views of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic field are panoramic, 360 degrees. And it is easy to imagine the caravans of prairie schooners of the Santa Fe Trail pioneers crossing the country below. This is the country New Mexico author Max Evans dubbed “the Hi-Lo Country,” and it is easy to see why, with all the up-and-down of the landscape. Capulin Monument is a Gold Tier Dark Sky State Park, named by the International Dark-Sky Association. Summer evening programs with rangers and high-powered telescopes give visitors dazzling starry night experiences. Alternatively, hike into the 415-foot-deep cinder cone on the Crater Vent Trail of the volcano. Go left at the park exit in 3 miles, where you will see Capulin Country Store, a spot to pick up cold beverages and snacks as well as browse local crafts. Upon exiting the monument, go left (east) at the junction with US 64/87, a well-paved highway, for 51 miles to Clayton.
Capulin lies 28 miles southeast of Raton on US 64/87, a settlement of Hispanic farmers founded sometime after the Civil War. Pass many abandoned homesteads—which will beckon to photographers—as the journey spins through the still-inhabited village of Des Moines (pronounced as it is spelled). Just west of Des Moines, 38 miles southeast of Raton, on the north side of US 64/87 between MM 384 and 385, is a historic marker for the New Goodnight Trail blazed by Charles Goodnight. The arrival of the railroad in New Mexico in the 1880s, as well as the fencing of the West in 1877, ended the great cattle drives. On the right, 10 miles beyond Capulin, see Sierra Grande, at 8,720 feet, the largest stand-alone mountain with a circumference of 40 miles in the United States. At 6.4 miles beyond Capulin, pass the Mandala Center, an ecumenical spiritual retreat located between the Capulin and Sierra Grande volcanos. Along the way, herds of pronghorn antelope graze near Mt. Dora, named for the daughter of Senator Stephen Dorsey, a crony of Albert Bacon Fall of Teapot Dome notoriety, involved with selling public lands for personal gain. About 30 miles west of Clayton, you will see to the left Rabbit Ears Mountain, named not for its resemblance to the ears of a hare, but for Chief Rabbit Ears. The landform is a 2.5-million-year-old cinder cone volcano. A Comanche or Cheyenne chief, depending upon which version of the story is told, was killed here. The chief’s name was Orejas de Conejo, which means “rabbit ears.” The mountain is notable for being a landmark for travelers along the Cimarron Cutoff route of the Santa Fe Trail. The Cimarron Cutoff was an alternative to the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, which climbed steep Raton Pass, the highest point on the trail; it was faster but more dangerous because it lacked water and was more vulnerable to Indian attack.
Just at the edge of Clayton, make a slight right before the bridge at the Clayton Lake sign. Stay on NM 370 for 10 miles; look for sign indicating a left turn. Travel 2 miles to the park entrance. The Dinosaur Trackway site is 0.25-mile walk from the parking area. See the sign on the left for Clayton Lake State Park, 15 miles along NM 370 North. This gem of a fishing lake (where the state record walleye was caught) stocked with catfish, trout, and bass, is actually a 170-acre recreational reservoir. The park has the Lake Observatory, and it is an excellent dark place to view night skies. But the outstanding feature is the Dinosaur Trackway, in the dam spillway, an accessible boardwalk through 500 fossilized dinosaur footprints left by eight kinds of dinosaurs in the mud of a seabed of the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous era. It is actually the second-largest such trackway in the Western Hemisphere.
Clayton, founded in 1887, named for Senator Stephen Dorsey’s son, is a quiet town of 3,200 that feels like it is still in the 1950s, on the state’s eastern border with the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles only 9 miles west. In many ways, it is more kin to those states than to New Mexico. It got its start with the railroad and became a major cattle shipping point. It is considered the gateway to New Mexico’s section of the Cimarron Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. The trail was opened in 1821 by William Becknell, when, after Mexico achieved independence from Spain, he brought a wagon load of goods 900 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe and sold out immediately. Spain forbade trade with its colonies, but Mexico was open to commerce, as was the United States; New Mexico became a US territory in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It was largely a military and mercantile trade route until the coming of the railroad in 1879. It remains a hub for ranchers and, today, is a resting spot for Texans traveling through to Colorado and the ski resorts of New Mexico. Railroads and cattle have been its mainstays. The town’s center of activity may be found in the three-story Eklund Hotel, built by Swedish immigrant Carl Eklund in the 1890s, a restored western inn with a bar, a period dining room with plush rose upholstery that serves tasty Mexican food, burgers, and homemade daily specials, a popular Thursday night open mic, and some darn fine traveling musicians. The Herzstein Memorial Museum around the corner from the hotel on 2nd and Walnut Streets has a surprisingly good collection of western memorabilia, WPA artifacts, dolls saddles, wedding dresses, and information on the Dust Bowl and Santa Fe Trail. It has been rated as highly haunted as well, with sightings of orbs and spirits supposedly confirmed. Across the street from the Eklund is the Luna Theater, dating back to 1916 and known for its restored neon winking moon; it shows recent releases. Mock’s Crossroads Coffee Mill at 2 South Front Street is a café with Wi-Fi that serves a respectable cup of joe and decent lunches. Nearby are Santa Fe Trail markers at approximately 19 miles north of Clayton off NM 406. A portion of the Cimarron Route crosses the Kiowa National Grasslands, a 2-mile section of trail and interpretive site, planted to restore the earth after the Dustbowl, with Santa Fe Trail swales. There are 137,000 miles of unspoiled short grass prairie in this section of the grasslands.
CLAYTON LAKE STATE PARK HAS GOOD FISHING, AN OBSERVATORY, AND THE HEMISPHERE’S SECOND LARGEST DINOSAUR TRACKWAY
About 17 miles north of Clayton is a 3-mile section of the Santa Fe Trail, open for walking and horseback riding. The trail is marked by rock posts. The ruts from the wheels of the wagons that made this trek in the 19th century are still visible.
Travel 90 miles back to Raton along US 64/87. An alternative shorter route to Clayton, or one you might wish to return on to complete the loop, is to travel out Clayton Road across Chicorica Creek, 1 mile east of Raton. At 11 miles, see the TO Ranch on the north, one of the oldest and largest ranches in the region. Still looking to the north, the profile of Capulin Volcano emerges, while straight ahead is the rather spread-out volcano known as Sierra Grande. Along the way, pronghorn actually do roam, as cattle graze on rich grasslands that untold eons ago were the bottoms of inland seas.
Raton has a history museum at 108 South 2nd Street and several blocks of a historic downtown that parallels the railroad tracks. The Southwest Chief stops twice a day at the 1903 classic Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Mission Revival station. The 1915 Shuler Theater, a century-old European Rococo jewel box, offers live music and theater productions as well as tours of its century old stage and fittings. It also has state-of-the-art movie sound and projection. The best way to find a tour is to stop in at the theater and ask to see it; a fine WPA and New Deal art collection in the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library and Sugarite Canyon State Park, with camping, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking and fishing, with 3,600 acres and 20 miles of trails. From the north end of town on 2nd Street, go under the underpass, bear right, and travel NM 72 to NM 526 to get there, about 10 miles NE. The trail around Lake Maloya is 4 miles, or you can take the 2.5-mile Lake Maloya trail one way from the trailhead at the west end of the dam over onto the Colorado side of the park. It is a moderate hike, and the birding is magnificent, with everything from bluebirds to blue heron; or, you can just do the trail along the lake. There are three lakes altogether: Lake Dorothey, Lake Alice, and Lake Maloya, each with trails. Black bear and mountain lions call this place home. With sufficient moisture, wildflowers are abundant; this is one of the prettiest places to find wildflowers in summer. The Visitor’s Center displays vintage photos from the days when Sugarite, a corruption of the word chicorica, meaning place of many birds, was a coal camp, and there is a well-signed hiking trail in back of the center that takes you through the remains of the coal camp where, at its height, 1000 people lived and worked between 1910 and 1941. It’s an easy, approximately 1-mile hike one way to the entrance of Mine 2 and the same distance to the Cable Wheel House on an unpaved surface. Pick up self-guided tour brochures at the Visitor Center.
THE 1892 EKLUND HOTEL IN CLAYTON HAS OLD WEST ATMOSPHERE, CONTEMPORARY CONVENIENCE, AND AN OPEN MIC ON THURSDAY NIGHTS
TWICE A DAY, THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF STILL WHISTLES THROUGH CLASSIC AT&SF MISSION RATON TRAIN STATION
Back in town, find the 3-mile Climax Canyon Park hike at Apache Avenue and South 6th Street, 3.25 miles round trip from the parking lot, a moderate to strenuous hike through pinon and juniper to excellent views of Raton and nearby mesas.
Enchanted Grounds Coffee Shop is the place to connect with Raton folks, and if you are after Frito pie, the Art of Snacks serves a spicy one. Barbecue is available at the Ice House, and Mexican food can be had at El Matador and Casas Lemus Restaurant & Inn. Colfax Ale Cellar offers live music from time to time, plus some more than respectable local brews. Patchwork Phoenix is a gathering spot for quilters and crafters and a friendly spot for newcomers to drop in.
Only 32 miles south of Raton on I-25 is the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge, on the Central Flyway, home to more than 289 species of birds, including bald and golden eagles, cranes and herons, wintering grounds for snow geese and a bonanza of watchable wildlife. Trails along Lakes 14 and 15 are eminently walkable and uncrowded. This is truly one of the most peaceful outdoor adventures in northeast NM.
IN THE AREA
Accommodations
HEART’S DESIRE BED & BREAKFAST, 301 South 3rd Street, Raton. Call 575-445-0000. $$.
HOTEL EKLUND, 15 Main Street, Clayton. Call 575-374-2551. $$.
Attractions and Recreation
ARTHUR JOHNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, 244 Cook Avenue, Raton.
CAPULIN-VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT, 44 Volcano Road, Capulin. Call 575-278-2201.
CLAYTON LAKE STATE PARK, 141 Clayton Lake Road, Clayton. Call 575-374-8808.
CLAYTON-UNION COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER, 1103 South 1st Street, Clayton. Call 575-374-9253.
HERZSTEIN MEMORIAL MUSEUM, 22 South 2nd Street, Clayton. Call 575-374-2977.
LUNA THEATER, 4 Main Street, Clayton. Call 575-374-2712.
THE MANDALA CENTER, 96 Mandala Road, Des Moines. Call 575-278-3002.
MAXWELL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Maxwell. Call 575-375-2331.
RATON MUSEUM, 108 South 2nd Street, Raton.
RATON REGIONAL AQUATIC CENTER, Roundhouse Road and Memorial Lane, Raton. Call 575-445-4271.
RATON VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER, 100 Clayton Road, Raton. Call 575-445-3689.
SANTE FE TRAIL ASSOCIATION. CALL 620-285-2054, Website: www.santafetrail.org.
SUGARITE CANYON STATE PARK, NM 526, Raton. Call 575-445-5607.
Dining and Drinks
ART OF SNACKS, 1117 South 2nd Street, Raton. Call 575-707-8020. $.
BRUNO’S PIZZA AND WINGS, 133 Cook Avenue, Raton. Call 575-445-9512. $–$$.
ENCHANTED GROUNDS COFFEE SHOP AND CAFÉ, 111 Park Avenue, Raton. Call 575-445-2219. $.
MOCK’S CROSSROADS COFFEE MILL, 2 South Front Street, Clayton. Call 575-374-5282. $.
Events
CHRISTMAS ON THE CHICORICA, December.
INTERNATIONAL SANTE FE TRAIL BALLOON RALLY, July.