Trip from Austin area to Santa fe

...Would take a detour, Northeast of Lubbock: Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway would make a neat place to check out. One I would like to see...

I highly recommend the detour to stay a day or two to explore but may not be worth it just to park for the night. The Caprock is an interesting place to hike and explore. Palo Dora Canyon is also an exciting place to explore. Check it out when you have time to take it all in.

DesertHawk wrote:
DeLorme Street Atlas has one to take US 183 N all the way to I-20 near Cisco. I-20 W to US 84 (W of Sweetwater) to Lubbock & on to New Mexico to I-40 at Santa Rosa. I-40 W to US 285 N at Cline's Corner to I-25 S to Santa Fe. 740 miles, 15.5 hours...

Along this route, Sumner Lake State Park and Santa Rosa Lake State Park have nice campgrounds with some electric sites. For your size rig, you might consider Hyde Memorial State Park North of Santa Fe on the road to the Ski Basin. Beautiful area with hiking trails and great views.

Some attractions in the general Santa Fe area you might want to checkout: Fort Union National Monument, Pecos National Historic Site, Bandelier National Monument, Tent Rocks National Monument, Turquoise Trail, Chaco Cultural Historical Park.

For route suggestion it helps to know where you are from.

DeLorme Street Atlas has one to take US 183 N all the way to I-20 near Cisco. I-20 W to US 84 (W of Sweetwater) to Lubbock & on to New Mexico to I-40 at Santa Rosa. I-40 W to US 285 N at Cline's Corner to I-25 S to Santa Fe. 740 miles, 15.5 hours.

Google Maps routes one to take US 183 N to US 84 at Brownwood to Sweetwater. Rest is the same. 687 miles, 11 hrs, 26 mins.

Could take a detour, Northeast of Lubbock: Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway would make a neat place to check out. One I would like to see.

Ditto, Copper Breaks State Park near Quanah sounds pretty cool.

Seems many of the small towns in West Texas have city RV parks, such as: Littlefield city park near Lubbock. Likewise, near Clovis, NM, Muleshoe city park. Other Such Parks

We spend an overnight at a Walmart Supercenter - 702 West Loop 289, Lubbock 806-793-9686. There are more as well: Walmarts.

If you happen to take a different route back to Austin (perhaps to see some of Southern New Mexico), maybe these older posts will be of help:

:C West of Roswell US 70/US 380 to US 54 - - - - - -> US 380 runs from Roswell to Carrizozo to San Antonio, between Carrizozo & US 70 one passes Billy the Kid Country & Lincoln & Smokey Bear in Capitan all in Lincoln County & the neat Valley of Fire BLM Campground is near Carrizozo, then take US 54 south to Alamogordo. Or US 380 to San Antonio, NM & I-25. Or US 54 N to Santa Fe.

:C Valley of Fires BLM Campground (near Carrizozo) is a first rate campground with electric & water hookups, good dump station and a fine shower house. Pics & description can be found:
Campground . . and . . Cloudcroft, Lincoln/Capitan, Carrizozo/White Oaks.

PS: one can reach Carrizozo (from Santa Fe) via I-25 N to US 285 S to NM 3 to US 54 to Carrizozo.

US 54 will also take one to Alamogordo.

From Alamorgordo take US 82 through Cloudcroft to Artesia. It is another neat drive. At Artesia take US 285 S toCarlsbad & on to Texas. To I-20 at Pecos or I-10 at Fort Stockton or on to US 90 E to San Antonio.

On US 70 between Las Cruces & Alamogordo, :C White Sands Nat'l Monument & Alamogordo Area. This site also has info on Carlsbad......I believe I would stay at Brantley State Park to base to see the area by Carlsbad.

If using I-10 or US 90 to San Antonio.

One can also take US 190 E (East of Fort Stockton on I-10) to Menard (US 83 S) to TX 29 S to Llano; TX 71 S to Austin.

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Staying the whole time in Santa Fe or do you mean the Santa Fe area?

The area of Santa Fe. There are many historical sites there to include the oldest cathedral in the country. :C

Staying the whole time in Santa Fe or do you mean the Santa Fe area?

We take our motorhome to Austin every Thanksgiving to visit family.

There are a lot of different routines to take that are all basically the same. It could also depend on whether you are on the north or south side of town. We go to the south side.

From Austin we usually go to TX71 to Brady, to US87 to Lamesa and then TX137, then US385 at Brownfield, to US84 in Littlefield, to US60 in Fort Sumner, to US285, to I25 to Santa Fe.

But, we have also gone through Roswell or through Lubbock, since I prefer not to keep taking the same route. The one I didn't like was taking US183 through Lampasas, but that was because there was a lot of construction in town.

Or when driving a car we take US290 to I10 to US285. Since if you can keep at freeway speeds this is the fastest.

We also like Santa Fe Skies since we stayed there when evacuated due to forest fires. But there are a lot of other places to stay nearby if you want to stay in the moutains.


David

Maybe something in these older posts will be of help:

:C Santa Fe has a lot of neat things to see & do. Santa Fe & Bandelier Nat'l Mon't -A Trip Report last summer.

More on the Santa Fe Area Expanded & ABQ.

More on the Sante Fe Area Plus.

Cochiti Lake COE campground, between ABQ & Santa Fe & at a lower elevation should have sites open. As would Bandelier National Monument's Juniper Campground. Higher than Cochiti Lake. Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area a BLM site with campgrounds is 30 miles north of Santa Fe (near Santa Cruz). Not as high as Santa Fe, might work for you. Cochiti Lake CG

Black Canyon Campground is just before Hyde State Park & is one of the more popular campgrounds on the Santa Fe National Forest....not electric, but water, restrooms. No showers at both Black Canyon & Hyde State Park. Seasons: Weather dependant, April through November.

US 285 Detour to Santa Fe from I-40 :::::: Back Roads New Mexico

Like wise: Campgrounds in Santa Fe.