Hoof and Rail Trail

One day last week we got the urge to see what I call the "backside of the Manzanos." We headed south from Tijeras and wandered all the way down to Mountainair (pulling over in some of the little villages along the way). In Mountainair I found this beautiful Chevy parked near a store.

Standing there in the middle of downtown Mountainair I looked out at the open land and blue sky to the east of town and wondered - what the heck is out there? Little did I know that I would discover what I now call the "Hoof and Rail Trail." Locals probably refer to as Highway 60 from Mountainair to Vaughn.

Mountainair sits about 18 miles east of one of New Mexico's most important crossroads - Abo Pass. For centuries Abo Pass has been a major trading route and it remains so today. The Salinas Pueblo Missions were built because of the salt trade created by the nearby Estancia Basin. Then came the railroad which selected this pass as a better way to access the Middle Rio Grande Valley thus creating Belen - the Hub City.

The Hoof and Rail Trail is only 65 miles when you head east from Mountainair on Highway 60. When you leave Mountainair you immediately see the elevated railroad tracks to the south. During the entire trip to Vaughn we counted 8 long trains heading westward to Mountainair each with between 3 to 4 engines up front and 2 pusher engines in the rear. I've never witnessed this much train traffic in New Mexico before.

We followed the tracks eastward until we came to lovely downtown Willard about 14 miles east of Mountainair.

From Willard we ventured further across the Estancia Basin and came across the Laguna del Perro. (In our travels across NM, the official scenic historic markers along the road are a welcome sight but too often they are vandalized. Wouldn't be great if they could shoot back?)

One of several lagunas we came across.

After the Laguna del Perro we began to climb out of the Estancia Basin.

After we were out of the basin we entered the wide open cattle country that dominated the landscape all the way to Vaughn (the hoof part of the trail). The railroad tracks were always within sight along the entire stretch (the rail part of the trail). We passed through the town of Encino where highways 3, 60 and 285 intersect. And from Encino to Vaughn the highway improves from a two to a four lane well paved road.

The train station at Vaughn.

From Vaughn we headed back to Encino and picked up Highway 285 north to Clines Corners. From there it was a straight shot back to Albuquerque on I-40.

We would like to thank the Air Force (not sure if it was our own National Guard unit at Kirtland) for buzzing the car with an F-16 when we were headed back to Encino from Vaughn. The plane had to be less than a 1,000 feet off the ground and we didn't hear it coming from the south.

The "Hoof and Rail Trail" may not be for everyone. After the Estancia Basin you find yourself in wide open country eventually losing sight of the Manzanos and Sandias. Is this what the panhandle of Texas looks like? Certainly the towns of Encino and Vaughn are in bad shape. You wonder how people can live in these towns and survive. They must all be ranchers or work for the railroad. We did see a few gravel pit operations along the way as well.

But there is always another side to the coin in places like Encino and Vaughn. I often wonder what the sky looks like at night or how nice it must be to have a ranch far away from neighbors. What is it like to have no stop lights in town? Is there a profound sense of freedom that we can't find in Albuquerque?

Next time I take the "Hoof and Rail Trail" I might go as far as Ft. Sumner or Clovis or.......Texico? Get's my roadtripper juices goin' just thinkin' about it!