NMBDR/Lincoln NF

[Downs]

Took a few days out of spring break and loaded my daughter up and headed for the Lincoln Ntl Forrest and the New Mexico BDR.

WE got a late start on the day so made it as far as White's City close to Carlsbad Caverns and setup camp on small square of BLM land just south of White's City.

Getting back on the road after packing up night 1's camp.

Didn't really stop here just drove though on the public road on the way to Del City, Tx.

13 miles to Del City and the start of the BDR.

NM/TX state line. No sign just a cattle guard and a county road sign.

Few miles up the road came across this. Later ran across a Deputy Sheriff and asked if they knew about it. He said it's been there for a few months now and htey aren't in a hurry to remove it.

Another wreck that had been pulled to the side of the road.

"The Rim" in the clouds

Down in the valley next to The Rim. They had gotten a ton of rain the night before and would get more thoughout the day. Made for some interesting travel on the gravel/dirt roads. Plenty of mud but still traversable.

Lunch stop

"El Paso Gap". This started a little section of pavement. THis hillside piece wsa the only thing there.

After some elevatoin gain on the pavement we enter the National Forrest and are about to make our way long the rim we were just below in the previous pictures.

This would make a really great but possibly windy camp site. 4wd would be needed to get out of there.

20 miles south of Weed, NM broad daylight rain and some lightning.

 

[Downs]

Camp for night 2. Was a pretty spot but we had high winds all night.

Finally into the pine trees.

Nice little private house/land along this forrest route. There were scattered patches of mud everywhere with some full sections of the road with a slick layer on top.

Small stream at a forrest road intersection. WOuld make for a nice campsite if it wasn't so wet. The kiddo wanted some play time on the ice/snow.

It's hard to see in this picture but this section of road was partially washed out. There was a ton of gravel washed out here all along the creek going downstream.

Stopped along the creekdown stream for lunch and to let the kiddo throw rocks into the creek haha.

Descending back out of the pines. White Sands is over the top of my Jeep. This would also start a very long section with a lot of mud, a red clay type mud. I didn't get many pictures because I didn't want to get out of the Jeep and just wanted to power though to drier ground.

Sunspot Observatory from below

Another view of White Sands after getting though the majority of the mud.

Last campsite about 20 mins outside of Cloudcroft. A lot less wind this night and dry enough not to sink in the mud.

Freeze dried ice cream time.

Thus starts the 9.5 hour slog back home.

How it looked most of the trip.

Artesia, NM

Back in Tejas

Last gas stop before home

 

[Downs]

Not sure why some of the pictures are showing up as "x" but if you right click and open image in new tab it should show up. When I go in to edit the post they show up on the edit screen. Not sure what's going on there.

 

[TexasGMG]

Looks like a nice trip (other than the rain). Thanks for sharing. Wife wants to wander up through NM and this will give her some more ideas.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Camp for night 2. Was a pretty spot but we had high winds all night.

Finally into the pine trees.

Nice little private house/land along this forrest route. There were scattered patches of mud everywhere with some full sections of the road with a slick layer on top.

Small stream at a forrest road intersection. WOuld make for a nice campsite if it wasn't so wet. The kiddo wanted some play time on the ice/snow.

It's hard to see in this picture but this section of road was partially washed out. There was a ton of gravel washed out here all along the creek going downstream.

Stopped along the creekdown stream for lunch and to let the kiddo throw rocks into the creek haha.

Descending back out of the pines. White Sands is over the top of my Jeep. This would also start a very long section with a lot of mud, a red clay type mud. I didn't get many pictures because I didn't want to get out of the Jeep and just wanted to power though to drier ground.

Sunspot Observatory from below

Another view of White Sands after getting though the majority of the mud.

Last campsite about 20 mins outside of Cloudcroft. A lot less wind this night and dry enough not to sink in the mud.

Freeze dried ice cream time.

Thus starts the 9.5 hour slog back home.

How it looked most of the trip.

Artesia, NM

Back in Tejas

Last gas stop before home

Great post, beautiful little girl and traveling companion. You were in my back yard but I was curious about the El Paso gap. I never heard of it.
I've traveled the road between Carlsbad and El Paso hundreds of times. Did you stop at the Guadalupe national park camp sites ? Did you take the road through Dell City to get to Cloudcroft ? Or was there a road west of Guadalupe you traveled that intersected that road ? Where is Hunt country Texas. I thought I knew almost every place in Texas west and south of Dallas. If you ever get over to my area in the Gila national forest area, look me up and we should be able to find some nice trails here. Some are 200 miles long. I could spend 20 years roaming this state and still not see it all. You barely finished you trip before the state declared it a no travel state. To many preppers trying to flee the cities and coming to this rural state and causing havoc with food and medical supplies. We only have a little over 2 million people in the whole state and 75% of the land mass is Federal property I believe. After the danger has passed come back !

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Looks like a nice trip (other than the rain). Thanks for sharing. Wife wants to wander up through NM and this will give her some more ideas.

Doug, when this pandemic thing passes, I hope you can manage a trip up through the Gila National forest where I live. We have hundreds of miles of forest roads and trails to explore. I think NM is one of the best states for exploring, camping and fishing because of the all the Federal land open to explorers and friendly ranchers who run cattle on BLM land. Come see when things are better.

 

[TexasGMG]

Doug, when this pandemic thing passes, I hope you can manage a trip up through the Gila National forest where I live. We have hundreds of miles of forest roads and trails to explore. I think NM is one of the best states for exploring, camping and fishing because of the all the Federal land open to explorers and friendly ranchers who run cattle on BLM land. Come see when things are better.

Sounds like a hell of plan sir. Thanks

 

[Downs]

Gila is very nice as well. Carson is another good one and covers a lot of land area. Spent a week in Carson Ntl Forrest and never stayed in the same spot twice and had beautiful views each time.

 

[Downs]

Great post, beautiful little girl and traveling companion. You were in my back yard but I was curious about the El Paso gap. I never heard of it.
I've traveled the road between Carlsbad and El Paso hundreds of times. Did you stop at the Guadalupe national park camp sites ? Did you take the road through Dell City to get to Cloudcroft ? Or was there a road west of Guadalupe you traveled that intersected that road ? Where is Hunt country Texas. I thought I knew almost every place in Texas west and south of Dallas. If you ever get over to my area in the Gila national forest area, look me up and we should be able to find some nice trails here. Some are 200 miles long. I could spend 20 years roaming this state and still not see it all. You barely finished you trip before the state declared it a no travel state. To many preppers trying to flee the cities and coming to this rural state and causing havoc with food and medical supplies. We only have a little over 2 million people in the whole state and 75% of the land mass is Federal property I believe. After the danger has passed come back !

I didn't go to any National Park Campsites, I try to avoid NPs cause they nickel and dime me to death. All of the campsites were dispersed on either National Forrest or BLM land.

The route I took was the New Mexico BDR (back country discover route). You can find the GPX files via a google search but the route we took started in Del City and snaked its way into Cloudcroft.

Only 47 percent of NM is "public" land so 75 percent is a bit on the high side of a guesstimate for federal Property. NM is #9 for public land percentage. The first state that hits 75 percent is Utah and it's #3 with Nevada at #2 and Alaska at #1. Basically the further west you go the more public land you have access too. Texas sucks for public lands and is at #45 for public land with less than 5 percent.

If "preppers" are blowing up your food and medical situation they're doing it wrong haha. I'll for sure be back I have a big block of time set aside after paramedic school to go run more of the NMBDR.

Hunt County is about an hour east of Dallas. I grew up in Palo Pinto County about 1.5 hours west of Fort Worth.

 

[overland.productions]

Took a few days out of spring break and loaded my daughter up and headed for the Lincoln Ntl Forrest and the New Mexico BDR.

WE got a late start on the day so made it as far as White's City close to Carlsbad Caverns and setup camp on small square of BLM land just south of White's City.

Didn't really stop here just drove though on the public road on the way to Del City, Tx.

Looks like a great trip! I'm headed to the National Forests in NM soon. Have you stayed in TX National Forests? I'm looking into Davy Crockett, Sabine, Sam Houston, Etc.

Next time you're close to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, stop at the park HQ and ask for the key to Williams ranch. It's a great offroad drive with technical features. It's 7.4 miles in to the ranch house. Takes 90 minutes to get there due to stopping for pictures everywhere. The drive out took 70 minutes.

 

[Downs]

I've stayed on the National Grasslands (Caddo and LBJ) a few times, they fall under the Forrest Service. Nothing super impressive but it's close by. I'll have to check out WIlliams Ranch next time I'm out that way. THanks :)

 

[Sparksalot]

Camp for night 2. Was a pretty spot but we had high winds all night.

Where were you for that night? Someplace along fr67? I’m looking to head up there soon.

 

[Downs]

Where were you for that night? Someplace along fr67? I’m looking to head up there soon.

Topo Maps, Trail Maps, and Satellite Imagery

Access free topo maps online and use intuitive mapping tools to plan your next adventure. The Gaia GPS map catalog includes detailed satellite imagery, worldwide trail maps, weather forecasting overlays, and avalanche data overlays.

www.gaiagps.com

It's about 10 miles south of Weed via roads. Let me know if that link works for you. It was a pretty site and the road up has some pull offs with other areas to camp if you want to camp lower and out of the wind.

 

[Sparksalot]

Topo Maps, Trail Maps, and Satellite Imagery

Access free topo maps online and use intuitive mapping tools to plan your next adventure. The Gaia GPS map catalog includes detailed satellite imagery, worldwide trail maps, weather forecasting overlays, and avalanche data overlays.

www.gaiagps.com

It's about 10 miles south of Weed via roads. Let me know if that link works for you. It was a pretty site and the road up has some pull offs with other areas to camp if you want to camp lower and out of the wind.

Oh cool, I had the bluewater lookout already marked. Is there an old tower there you can climb?

 

[Downs]

Oh cool, I had the bluewater lookout already marked. Is there an old tower there you can climb?

No, you can see it from the site I camped at but it's gated off and appears to still be an active tower looking at it though binoculars.

 

[Sparksalot]

No, you can see it from the site I camped at but it's gated off and appears to still be an active tower looking at it though binoculars.

I wondered, the Dark Canyon tower further south is the only one listed by the FS as a spot to visit.