The traveler to the east should stay on U.S. 62-180 from El Paso. This highway cuts through the Hueco Mountains via Powwow Canyon, a gash carved from Pennsylvanian and Permian limestones, crosses the Diablo Plateau, rolls past the white patches of Salt Flat lakes, then winds up to the summit of Guadalupe Pass between the Delaware Mountains on the south and the towering Guadalupe Mountains on the north. Looking north from the Pass, Guadalupe Peak, highest point in Texas, and El Capitan are unforgettable sights, their steep lower slopes ribbed brown and green, overshadowed by the 1000-foot limestone cliffs of the peaks. The limestone-hewn Guadalupe Mountains parallel the highway in New Mexico and are pitted with many caves, with Carlsbad Caverns the largest known in the range. Eastward beyond the Pecos Valley stretches the Great Plains and Texas.
A side trip, near Carlsbad, over black-topped and gravel roads leads from Seven Rivers, up Rocky Arroyo on State Road 137, into the northern foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains to Sitting Bull Falls. Here, cool spring waters cascade over limestone ledges to join in green pools lying amid the cottonwood groves of the canyon floor.
Lake McMillan, a reservoir along the Pecos River north of Carlsbad, and the many potash mines east of Carlsbad are parts of the enchanting landscapes of this southeastern corner. Northward, following the green cotton fields bordering the Pecos River, U.S. Highway 285 leads through Artesia with its oil refineries to modern booming Roswell, second city of the state. East of Roswell, bordering the east side of the Pecos Valley, is Bottomless Lakes, azure blue pools spotted in sink holes.
Eastward from Roswell, on either U.S. Highway 70 or 380, redbeds of Permian and Triassic age lie half hidden by pinkish sands up to the edge of the caprock; beyond are the fertile grazing and crop lands of the Llano Estacado, with its queen cities of Clovis and Portales. Here, deep wells pump underground waters to irrigate lush fields that produce peanuts, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, melons, strawberries, cucumbers, and grapes. On the plains beyond the reach of the wells, wheat, maize, and broomcorn are grown. Southeastward, oil derricks dot the plains, surrounding Hobbs and Lovington.
Westward from Roswell, U.S. Highways 70 and 380 run together up the rolling limestone hills west of the Pecos Valley before plunging down Picacho Hill into the narrow canyon of Rio Hondo. At Hondo they divide. U.S. Highway 380 leads northwestward through Lincoln town, Billy the Kid’s shooting grounds, into Capitan, over Indian Divide, and down into sleepy Carrizozo—paralleled by the forested peaks of Capitan Mountains to the north and overshadowed by mighty Sierra Blanca to the southwest. U.S. Highway 70 runs up the green canyon of Rio Ruidoso, past Ruidoso Downs, past State Highway 37 which leads to Ruidoso and the Sierra Blanca Ski Area, up into the ponderosa pines, crossing the divide at Apache Summit, then westward and downhill past Mescalero, paralleling Rio Tularosa. Suddenly the canyon widens, and ahead is the dry Tularosa Basin with the White Sands glistening in the far distance.
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A.)
Now this is what is meant by forest.... from Monjeau Lookout
From Tularosa to Alamogordo, U.S. Highway 70 is along the west edge of the Sacramento Mountains wherein tier upon tier of dolomite and limestone cliffs rise to the high peaks near Cloudcroft. Southwestward from Alamogordo, the highway cuts diagonally across the Tularosa Basin, skirting the southern edge of the White Sands, and passing through White Sands Missile Range. Ahead lie the fabulous spires of the Organ Mountains; to the right, the notched cliffs of the San Andres Mountains stretch northward to rounded Salinas Peak and beyond the horizon. Steeply, the highway rises to cross San Augustin Pass between the Organ and San Andres mountains, past the village of Organ with its crumbling mining dumps, before plunging downward onto the southern end of Jornada del Muerto, and finally, on the east edge of Las Cruces, leaves the creosote bush plains to dip into the green Mesilla Valley of the Rio Grande.
West of Carrizozo, U.S. 380 crosses the black basalt flows of Valley of Fires State Park, curves over the Carrizozo dome and up the dip slopes of Chupadera Mesa, crosses in red roadcuts the northern tip of Sierra Oscura, then westward through sand dunes of the northern Jornada del Muerto. Coal beds crop out at Cerro Colorado before the highway sweeps down into the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio.
U.S. Highway 60 enters the state from the east on the Staked Plains near booming Clovis, crosses Rio Pecos Valley at Fort Sumner—near Billy the Kid’s grave—goes straight as a beeline over the plains to Vaughn, then crosses the low southern end of the Pedernal Hills where tan Permian sandstones lie abruptly on Precambrian granite, quartzite, and schists. Near Willard, the highway crosses the southern end of the Estancia Valley, with the salt lakes of Laguna del Perro mere remnants of the huge Pleistocene lake that once filled the Valley. West from Mountainair, Abo redbeds border the highway; limestone walls of Gran Quivira lie to the south and the red sandstone church ruins of Abo and Quarai are to the north. Through Abo Pass between the Manzano and Los Pinos mountains the highway runs, then down the long alluvial fan slopes to the Rio Grande Valley at Bernardo. From Bernardo to Socorro, U.S. Highway 60 joins Interstate 25; westward from Socorro, the road climbs out of the Valley onto Snake Ranch Flats, parallels the snow-tipped Magdalena Mountains to Magdalena, then crosses the north end of the grassy San Agustin Plains. Westward to Datil and Quemado, the highway is always in sight of volcanic mountains, up and down winding canyons, and across intermontane plains.