We are taking the travel trailer (26' 6000#) to New Mexico. Being from Houston I have limited experience on snow/ice. We will spend the night in Carlsbad, then on to Angel Fire or Alamagorda (still deciding). Any particular routes that are better or worse than others in terms of grade and maintenance?

 

Im from Las Cruces NM, if your going to Alamagordo consider taking i54 zero grades , and from there you can either go to Cloud craft, steep grade maybe 10% but once your in the mountains you like it, not sure if its snowed up there. And you can also go to Ruidoso its only like 25 miles away from Cloudcraft

 

Yea, cloudcroft was the original idea, but my wife is thinking about Angel Fire, but looking at the NM state hwy page, that may be "interesting"?

 

Never been there, from the looks of it looks nice. Jemez is also a nice place, sandia peak has some good hiking spots

 

i used to live in Corrales, and Sandia Peak is really nice to hike around if thats what you guys are doing. if not you could always take the tram to the top.
being from Maryland and then moving to NM it was funny when it snowed ~3-4 inches and schools closed for more than one day(crazy), the roads were a wreck from people who rarely drive in the snow...i couldnt believe the chaos that a few inches of snow can bring for people who dont drive in it every winter!

 

Haha sean, you should see when Houston gets ice, or the occasional quarter inch of snow every 6 years.

I think the plan is to spend the night in Carlsbad, do a couple things there, then get up in the morning and head to Angel Fire. Do two days of skiing and then start making our way home

 

I live between Santa fe and Taos .angle fire is nice, there is supposed to storm moving in this weekend. heading up i25 though Cimarron or 285 through Taos?

 

Going to over night in Carlsbad on the 29th. Then on the 30th head up to Vegas on 285/84, and pick up 25 and go out 58 through Cimmaron and Eagle's Nest

 

58 between Cimarron and eagles nest is a really nice drive. just keep close eye out for animals crossing the road. don't think I have ever gone through there and not seen deer or elk as fresh road kill. there are some good grades climbing up to eagels nest but it's all slow going , I've gone through there with 5th wheel before not too bad.

 

Thanks. Tad nervous about the rwd and open rear diff, but every one I talked to said the roads are ok during the day.

 

time you drive to be going up the canyon about mid day you should be fine.

 

Yea, shouldn't be any later than 5 or 6 pm when we get there