New Mexico ADV loop - Day 1

I (Chad) and my friend Will had planned a motorcycle trip around New Mexico, following mostly dirt roads, intending to go back in late May. However, Will's bike was not cooperating, and we had to defer the trip. October in New Mexico is usually a lovely and dry time of year, auspicious for a motorcycle trip. But 2026 brought a late monsoon, and trepidations about our planned route.

We planned to ride south from Santa Fe along the east side of the Manzano mountains, to Carrizozo and the Three Rivers petroglyph site, then pick up the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR) to head west and north, as far as Colorado, and then arc east through the Sangre de Cristo mountains, south through Las Vegas (NM), and back to Santa Fe.

Since our trip was now going to take place during a colder part of the year, my requirements for a warm sleeping bag (vs. light weight quilt) and warmer clothes meant that my usual motorcycle bags were not quite large enough. Despite several rounds of trying different packing approaches, I gave up and ordered a larger dry bag that would fit both my clothes and sleeping bag.

After waiting a day for my larger dry bag to arrive (thanks, USPS, for sending my package from Provo to SLC to Lubbock where it stalled, then to ABQ, where it languished for several more days, before finally being routed to Santa Fe) we planned to get an early start on the 14th. USPS dangled a “sometime between ten and two” delivery window, which I trusted not at all… so we dallied over breakfast and committed to a noonish departure.

We made it out at 12:30, so of course my bag was delivered about 15 minutes later.

Our route led down the 599 frontage road to cross the Santa Fe river, but I didn’t account for it being quite full of water! I go that way so frequently when it is dry, that I didn’t even think about it possibly being wet. There was quite a bit of water, and we probably could have got through, but likely with wet feet, so we back tracked a bit and rode down 599 instead. We then headed through La Cieneguilla, across I-25 and up the south side frontage road to access Waldo Canyon. That brought us to Cerrillos, where sadly we were past the season for the Blackbird Saloon. By the time we arrived in Madrid, it made sense to grab some food at the Mine Shaft Saloon. Good food, but not particularly expeditious, so we didn’t get down to the Manzano mountains until after 4.

We picked up a couple beers for the evening at Ray’s, and headed for the Red Canyon campground. Just us, nobody else around at all until later, when a nice older couple from Colorado pulled in driving a Vanagon. It was windy all day, and continued into the evening, which made getting a campfire started a bit of a challenge but we persevered. Chilly at 7,700 ft and windy, so we were ready to turn in when the firewood ran out at 9pm!

Mileage for the day: 108
Google maps Route