From the downgrade into Tijeras Canyon, State Highway 10 leads north to San Antonito and the turnoff to Sandia Crest. The crest road winds up canyon walls, on sloping limestone mesas, up through thick stands of ponderosa pine, aspen, and, near the top, Engelmann spruce and corkbark fir. Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep may be seen off the road on the high crags. From Sandia Crest, 10,678 feet above sea level, much of north-central New Mexico is visible; Mount Taylor to the west, the Nacimiento and Jemez mountains to the northwest, the mighty Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the northeast, and countless ranges to the south and southwest. The city of Albuquerque is spread out at the base of the Sandias, and the twisting north-south channel of the Rio Grande stretches, glistening, as far left and right as one can see.

From Tijeras, Interstate 40 plunges into Tijeras Canyon, slicing through vertical roadcuts in Pennsylvanian limestones and shales, then through the ancient Precambrian granite. At the canyons mouth, the road levels off on the broad alluvial plain on which much of east Albuquerque is built, although the “downtown” is really down, in the valley of the Rio Grande.

Westward, Interstate 40 rolls up out of the valley, crosses windswept plains spotted with black volcanic cones, in and out of the shallow brown valley of Rio Puerco, and then to the red-cliff-bordered valley of Rio San Jose. Cliffs are of brown, buff, and light-gray Jurassic sandstones, with the valley carved in Triassic redbeds. Near Laguna, on the north side of the valley, white gypsum of the Todilto Formation crops out. Then through the pink Jurassic cliffs the canyon winds, and near New Laguna, the highway is bordered by the varicolored, uranium-bearing Morrison beds, which are overlain by brown sandstones and black shales of Cretaceous age.

But as Interstate 40 approaches Grants, the dominant feature is black frozen lava. The mesas surrounding Mount Taylor are capped by black basalt, built up in many layers, each individual flows, and loose blocks tumble down on the hillsides. Young basalt, twisted and wrinkled as if it were still hot, winds along the valley; just east of Grants, a huge “field” of this recent basalt stretches southward beyond the horizon. And above all looms Mount Taylor, remnant of an ancient volcano, snow-capped in winter, towering 11,389 feet above sea level.

At Casa Blanca, southeast of Mount Taylor, State Road 23 leads south to Acoma Pueblo. Eleven miles to the southwest, Enchanted Mesa, Katsim as it is called by the Acomas, towers 450 feet above the surrounding valley floor. This sheer-cliffed rock is built by layers of (from the base to the top) pink and white Entrada Sandstone, gray Todilto limestone, pink and green Summerville beds, a massive cliff of light-tan Zuni Sandstone, and a cap of yellow-brown Dakota Sandstone.

The top of Enchanted Mesa is inaccessible by normal means. Legend has it that once the Acomas lived there, and there are Indian ruins up on the isolated rim. A terrific rain and lightning storm, one summer day, sent huge waterfalls down the sides of the mesa, tearing away large blocks of sandstone, and destroyed the trail to the top, a series of narrow zigzag ledges and toeholds in crevasses. Thus the Acoma Indians moved a few miles to the southwest to Acoma, onto the top of another sheer cliff, a rock fortress carved in Zuni Sandstone and capped by Dakota Sandstone.

Southwest of Grants, the forested Zuni Mountains rise, bordered on the north by a valley cut in Triassic redbeds and on the east by the recent black basalt flows. The hurrying traveler will follow Interstate 40 to Gallup around the north edge of the Zuni dome, flanked on the north by the spectacular pink, red, brown, and gray cliffs of Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones. If one has time, take the low road, State Highways 53 and 36, around the southern edge of the Zunis. For almost twenty miles, passing through San Rafael, the paved highway parallels the west edge of the Grants black basalt flow; then up over low ridges and past black cinder cones toward El Morro. In the lava tunnels, perpetual ice stays hidden from the sun; these can be visited at Ice Caves.

El Morro, Inscription Rock, with its towering cliffs of Zuni Sandstone, overlooks peaceful green valleys; farther west, the red and brown sandstones are carved into many mesas and buttes near Zuni Pueblo. Then northward to Gallup, swinging around the west edge of the Zuni Mountains, the roller-coaster highway, State 36, cuts through ponderosa pine country, bordered by Cretaceous brown sandstones, black shales, and coal beds.

Northeast of Gallup eight miles is Kit Carson’s Cave, a gaping door on the face of a massive cliff of Jurassic sandstone. A pool of cool water lies along its floor. The three-and-a-half-mile drive north of Interstate 40 is through a vast broken country of sandstone spires, pyramids, cliffs, and ledges carved in the Jurassic rocks. Near Gallup, the drab coal-bearing Cretaceous beds form the landscapes, but westward near the Arizona line, erosion has cut down again to the brilliantly colored Jurassic rocks, and Interstate 40 is escorted westward into the Grand Canyon State by cliffs of white and pink sandstone.

Californians crossing New Mexico in the winter are likely to travel U.S. Highway 70-80 (Interstate 10) eastward. New Mexico is entered just before Steins Pass, which is channeled through the tan and green volcanic rocks of the Peloncillo Mountains. Then down across the mud and salt marshes of Alkali Flats lying in the Animas Valley and up onto the north edge of the Pyramid Mountains into Lordsburg. Mine dumps dot the Pyramids, and the ghost mining town of Shakespeare lies amid the purple volcanic rocks.

Eastward from Lordsburg for 118 miles are the Antelope Plains; plains, plains, plains. Steers graze on the sparse grass, yucca clumps border the highway, and here and there sand dunes flee before the restless winds. Mountain ranges, like islands on the sea of grass, yucca, and creosote bush, rise in the distance. West of Deming, the low Victorio Mountains lie south of the highway, made up of dolomite, limestone, and andesite ridges. Southeast of Deming are the lofty Florida Mountains, their northern toe crossed by Interstate 10. Volcanic hills dot the landscape east of Las Cruces, Sierra de las Uvas’ purple slopes to the north, and the Potrillo Mountains and Mount Riley to the south. The latter are part of a spectacular volcanic field where black cinder cones and basalt flows cover hundreds of square miles, and craters such as Kilbourne Hole are sunk below the plains.

The descent into the Rio Grande Valley is awesome, especially if the late afternoon sun is dancing on the spires and cliffs of the Organ Mountains to the east. From across the brown plains, Interstate 10 winds down into the green Mesilla Valley, a different world of cotton and alfalfa fields, pecan and cottonwood groves, and red-tile-roofed Spanish homes. The view of the Organ Mountains alone is worth the trip.

At Las Cruces, a city booming on cotton, rockets, and tourists, Interstate 10 turns south to parallel the east side of the Rio Grande Valley down to Texas and El Paso. If one prefers a quiet scenic route, State Highway 28 winds its way along the west side of the Valley amid fields and groves, through peaceful villages, to end at the bridge over the Rio Grande on the edge of El Paso. Here, to the south, is El Cristo Rey, a cone of massive andesite, flanked by steeply tilted beds of limestone and shale, Early Cretaceous in age, cut in two by the New Mexico-Mexico border. Atop the peak is a 29-foot-high, 40-ton, limestone statue of Christ; a winding path leads upward from the base for those strong enough of limb to make the climb. Beyond, to the south, Ciudad Juarez lies, famous for its bordertown flavor, markets, cathedrals, and bull rings.

The traveler to the east should stay on U.S. 62-180 from El Paso. This highway cuts through the Hueco Mountains via Powwow Canyon, a gash carved from Pennsylvanian and Permian limestones, crosses the Diablo Plateau, rolls past the white patches of Salt Flat lakes, then winds up to the summit of Guadalupe Pass between the Delaware Mountains on the south and the towering Guadalupe Mountains on the north. Looking north from the Pass, Guadalupe Peak, highest point in Texas, and El Capitan are unforgettable sights, their steep lower slopes ribbed brown and green, overshadowed by the 1000-foot limestone cliffs of the peaks. The limestone-hewn Guadalupe Mountains parallel the highway in New Mexico and are pitted with many caves, with Carlsbad Caverns the largest known in the range. Eastward beyond the Pecos Valley stretches the Great Plains and Texas.

A side trip, near Carlsbad, over black-topped and gravel roads leads from Seven Rivers, up Rocky Arroyo on State Road 137, into the northern foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains to Sitting Bull Falls. Here, cool spring waters cascade over limestone ledges to join in green pools lying amid the cottonwood groves of the canyon floor.

Lake McMillan, a reservoir along the Pecos River north of Carlsbad, and the many potash mines east of Carlsbad are parts of the enchanting landscapes of this southeastern corner. Northward, following the green cotton fields bordering the Pecos River, U.S. Highway 285 leads through Artesia with its oil refineries to modern booming Roswell, second city of the state. East of Roswell, bordering the east side of the Pecos Valley, is Bottomless Lakes, azure blue pools spotted in sink holes.

Eastward from Roswell, on either U.S. Highway 70 or 380, redbeds of Permian and Triassic age lie half hidden by pinkish sands up to the edge of the caprock; beyond are the fertile grazing and crop lands of the Llano Estacado, with its queen cities of Clovis and Portales. Here, deep wells pump underground waters to irrigate lush fields that produce peanuts, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, melons, strawberries, cucumbers, and grapes. On the plains beyond the reach of the wells, wheat, maize, and broomcorn are grown. Southeastward, oil derricks dot the plains, surrounding Hobbs and Lovington.

Westward from Roswell, U.S. Highways 70 and 380 run together up the rolling limestone hills west of the Pecos Valley before plunging down Picacho Hill into the narrow canyon of Rio Hondo. At Hondo they divide. U.S. Highway 380 leads northwestward through Lincoln town, Billy the Kid’s shooting grounds, into Capitan, over Indian Divide, and down into sleepy Carrizozo—paralleled by the forested peaks of Capitan Mountains to the north and overshadowed by mighty Sierra Blanca to the southwest. U.S. Highway 70 runs up the green canyon of Rio Ruidoso, past Ruidoso Downs, past State Highway 37 which leads to Ruidoso and the Sierra Blanca Ski Area, up into the ponderosa pines, crossing the divide at Apache Summit, then westward and downhill past Mescalero, paralleling Rio Tularosa. Suddenly the canyon widens, and ahead is the dry Tularosa Basin with the White Sands glistening in the far distance.