Driving Tours

The Clayton Highway: Dinosaurs, Outlaws & Folsom Man

Folsom -- Near here, cowboy George McJunkin discovered the 10,000-year-old remains of "Folsom Man." The find, excavated by the Denver Museum of Natural History in 1926, represented the first association of the artifacts of prehistoric people (spear points) with the fossil bones of extinct animals (a species of bison). The site is on private property and is closed to the public, but some artifacts (prehistoric as well as from the 19th c.) are displayed at the Folsom Museum, Main Street, Folsom (tel. 505/278-2122 in summer, 505/278-3616 in winter; http://folsommuseum.netfirms.com). The museum does not, however, contain any authentic Folsom prints, only copies. The museum has limited exhibits on prehistoric and historic Native Americans of the area, as well as Folsom's settlement by whites. Hours are daily 10am to 5pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day, winter by appointment. The museum is open weekends only in May and September. Admission is $1.50 for adults, 50¢ for children 6 to 12, and free for children under age 6. To get to Folsom, take NM 325 off the Clayton Highway (US 64/87, running 83 miles east-southeast from Raton to Clayton) for 7 miles.

Clayton -- Clayton (pop. 2,500) is a ranching center just 9 miles west of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle borders. Rich prairie grasses, typical of nearby Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands (tel. 505/374-9652), led to its founding in 1887 at the site of a longtime cowboy resting spot and watering hole. In the early 19th century, the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail passed through here. This area was also the site of numerous bloody battles between Plains Indians and Anglo settlers and traders. Clayton is most known as the town where the notorious train robber Thomas "Black Jack" Ketchum was inadvertently decapitated while being hanged in 1901 (a doctor carefully reunited head and body before Ketchum was buried here).

Tracks from eight species of dinosaurs can be clearly seen in Clayton Lake State Park, 12 miles north of town off NM 370, near the distinctive Rabbit Ears Mountains (tel. 505/374-8808). The lake is crystalline blue and is strange to come upon after driving across these pale prairies. It offers fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, and camping. A half-mile trail on the southeast side of the lake leads across the dam to an exhibit describing the types of dinosaurs that roamed this area. From there, you can wander along a boardwalk to the amazingly intact dinosaur tracks. Another trail starts on the north side of the lake and is 1.5 miles long; if you wish, you can follow it farther to the dinosaur tracks, making for a 3.5-mile hike. In 2006, the park gained an $85,000 observatory, where stargazers can take advantage of the region's especially dark skies to see to the edge of the universe.

Lay your head for the night at the Eklund Hotel Dining Room and Saloon, 15 Main St. (tel. 505/374-2551; www.theeklund.com). Recently remodeled, this hotel offers late-1800s-style rooms updated with contemporary amenities. And if you're hungry and thirsty, head for their restaurant and bar, where you'll dine on New Mexican food, steaks, and seafood in an Old West atmosphere. You can also get a good night's rest at the Best Western Kokopelli Lodge, 702 S. 1st St., Clayton, NM 88415 (tel. 800/528-1234 or 505/374-2589; www.bestwestern.com).

Visitor Information -- For information on other area attractions, as well as more lodging and dining options, contact the Clayton-Union County Chamber of Commerce, 1103 S. 1st St. (P.O. Box 476), Clayton, NM 88415 (tel. 505/374-9253; www.claytonnewmexico.org).

Route 66 Revisited: Rediscovering New Mexico's Stretch of the Mother Road

As the old Bobby Troupe hit suggests: Get your kicks on Route 66. The highway that once stretched from Chicago to California was hailed as the road to freedom. During the Great Depression, it was the way west for farmers escaping Dust Bowl poverty out on the plains. If you found yourself in a rut in the late 1940s and 1950s, all you had to do was hop in the car and head west on Route 66.

Of course, the road existed long before it gained such widespread fascination. Built in the late 1920s and paved in 1937, it was the lifeblood of communities in eight states. Nowadays, however, US 66 is as elusive as the fantasies that once carried hundreds of thousands west in search of a better life. Replaced by other roads, covered up by interstates (mostly I-40), and just plain out of use, Route 66 still exists in New Mexico, but you'll have to do a little searching and take some extra time to find it.

Motorists driving west from Texas can take a spin (make that a slow spin) on a 20-mile gravel stretch of the original highway running from Glenrio (Texas) to San Jon. From San Jon to Tucumcari, you can enjoy nearly 24 continuous paved miles of vintage 66. In Tucumcari, the historic route sliced through the center of town along what is now Tucumcari Boulevard. Santa Rosa's Will Rogers Drive is that city's 4-mile claim to the Mother Road. In Albuquerque, US 66 follows Central Avenue for 18 miles, from the 1936 State Fairgrounds, past original 1930s motels and the historic Nob Hill district, on west through downtown.

One of the best spots to pretend you are a 1950s road warrior crossing the desert -- whizzing past rattlesnakes, tepees, and tumbleweeds -- is along NM 124, which winds 25 miles from Mesita to Acoma in northwestern New Mexico. You can next pick up old Route 66 in Grants, along the 6-mile Santa Fe Avenue. In Gallup, a 9-mile segment of US 66 is lined with restaurants and hotels reminiscent of the city's days as a Western film capital from 1929 to 1964. Just outside Gallup, the historic route continues west to the Arizona border as NM 118.

For more information about Route 66, contact the Grants/Cíbola County Chamber of Commerce (tel. 800/748-2142) or the New Mexico Department of Tourism (tel. 800/545-2040).