Hwy 285 from Fort Stockton Texas to Carlsbad, NM

This is interesting. We drove the Ft Stockton to Carlsbad route on US285 in March of 2014. We did not find that road in very bad condition. But then, I have to drive I-295 around Richmond, VA all the time, and that is a fiasco. That's a road I'm embarrassed to have out of staters use.

While driving that portion of south east New Mexico, saw a lot of oil pumps out in the fields, but didn't seem much oil related activity otherwise.

Just drove U.S.285 from Carlsbad to Ft Stockton last week. I can honestly say, I will never ever do that again. This has to be one of the most dangerous roads in America. The oil fields truck traffic is absolutely horribly unsafe. The New Mexico portion of the road is so badly worn we possibly ruined one of my TT tires. I will gladly go a hundred miles out of my way to avoid this road.

Sorry to hear about 285. That was my favorite route to Santa Fe but have not gone there recently. It used to be a nice two lane all the way from Ft Stockton.

jeffcarp wrote:
Is 285 decent coming from Albuquerque to Carlsbad or is that in rough shape too?

. Just drove this route about a month ago, Albuquerque to
Carlsbad is fine, however as Second Chance stated, Carlsbad to Pecos is terrible. It is difficult to pass (all sorts of trucks, rig equipment, etc.) and the road is a mess! We will go another way next time.

Is 285 decent coming from Albuquerque to Carlsbad or is that in rough shape too?

Another route would be I-10 to Van Horn. Then 54 up to Carlsbad.
We have take this route. Nice roads.

Fuel is easy to find.

Flying J at Fort Stockton - I've had no trouble using the RV lanes with a 60 foot truck TT combination, but you need to come in the east side of the station

Flying J just a bit west of the intersection at Pecos on the west bound service road. Good access to the RV lanes, but no decent parking for an RV.

Pilot just south of the US 285 / US 62 junction in Carlsbad. You need to go past the pumps on the highway and make the turn into the station just after that. Then do another 180 as you are leaving.

As mentioned above - the highway has seen extremely heavy oil field truck usage in the past few years. The Texas part of the highway is showing some wear from over weight usage. The New Mexico part has been heavily damaged.

The worst part of the trip both ways for us in August 2014 was getting passed on a two lane road by convoys of oil field 18 wheelers traveling 80+ mph. We had to take the shoulder a couple times because they were the most discourteous truck driver's I've ever seen. Seemed to take offense that anyone would travel the road at speeds of 60 mph.

Well, the RV pumps at the Flying J in Ft Stockton can be a problem to get to unless there is no car activity - go for the truck pumps.

We drove US 285 from Carlsbad to Pecos and Fort Stockton in February. As a native New Mexican, I'm ashamed that the stretch of 285 that's in New Mexico is part of my home state. The terrain - complete with oil pipeline construction - looks the set for a Mad Max Movie. The road surface between Carlsbad and Orla is one of the worst I've ever seen. Having traveled that neck of the woods for 45 years, that's a road I'll never take again!

Rob

Ft Stockton has fuel stations and campgrounds.