This is STOP 16, the 50th, 51st and 52nd days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Page, AZ.
The Drive from Page, AZ to Silver City, NM
Page AZ to Silver City NM
We have a long drive today – about 7.5 hours and we get on the road early. We drive down US 89 south to Flagstaff where we jump onto I-40 east for a short while. Along the way we travel a far amount through the Navaho Indian Reservation. We stop across the street from one of the trading posts to use the facilities.
We see signs for the Petrified Forest National Park (been there before) and remember there was this huge store that had more petrified wood than the park. As we exit the interstate to transition to US 180 east to Silver City – the store is right there.
We are about halfway through the day’s drive, so it is a good chance for a break. Nancy has been wanting to find a good rock store to find more stones to wire-wrap into jewelry. Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company is probably one of the best rock shops we’ve ever been to. Today is Halloween and the staff are dressed up in costumes. We marvel at the thousands of large pieces of petrified wood outside (as much as $4000 for a super large piece – but how would you ever get it home?) We also enjoy just looking at all the fossils and various rocks they have inside the store. Nancy finds some great stones at very reasonable prices. You can buy petrified wood by the pound from just picking through some of the rock piles in the back of the store. We have a picnic lunch off the tailgate of the Brown Beast. Then we get back on the road and uneventfully get to our lodging for our 3 day stay in Silver City. We pass 9000 miles today!
We Continue our Journey from Jim Grays to Silver City
We continue south towards Silver City and through several small towns including Alpine Arizona where we stayed overnight on a previous trip to Arizona.
Carriage House Cottage
We’ve chosen a VRBO cottage for this stay – the Carriage House Cottage – that is within walking distance of the historic downtown. The cottage was perfect for us – 4 rooms (bedroom, living room, kitchen and dining room) plus an outdoor hot tub under the stars. By the time we unpack, including our kitchen stuff, it begins to feel like home. It is nice to have a home away from home for a few days.
Silver City was officially founded in 1870 after the discovery of silver ore deposits. Once an Apache camp, when copper and silver were discovered, the town quickly formed. In the 1870’s, Billy the Kid was arrested twice for stealing and Butch Cassidy and his outlaws were also know to frequent saloons in the late 1800’s The Santa Fe Railroad reached Silver City in 1886. In 1893, New Mexico Normal School was established. It was later known as New Mexico Western State Teachers College. In 1963, it was renamed Western New Mexico University.
Toad Creek Distillery & Brewery
It is Sunday and sometimes there are issues finding an open restaurant on a Sunday night. Yes, we could cook in, but we just feel like doing a quick explore of the downtown to see what it has to offer and then eat a meal that someone else cooks for us. It is Halloween and we head through the neighborhood, seeing a few trick-or-treaters as we make our way to town. We hear loud music and laughter a few blocks away and assume it is coming from the church that is probably doing a family Halloween get-together. We stop at a restaurant that reviews have pegged as a “sports bar for locals”. It is a small, quaint place and we pick two seats at the bar. The bartender informs us they are about to close early because they have run out of almost all the food items on their menu. And so we leave without even getting a beer and continue walking the main street of the downtown.
The whole downtown is only about 5 or 6 blocks and at the end we find the Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery. While there is a small bar with only 3 seats, there is a giant TV that is more easily viewed from the high top tables. We take a table today and remark that while we are unlikely to get to meet people this way, at least we have a great view of the game. The staff and several patrons are in costumes. We find craft beers to our liking – Harrison ordering the Smarte Blonde Ale and Nancy getting the Big Ditch Brown. We order the smoked salmon platter appetizer – and it exceeds our expectation between the lemon-thyme cream cheese, the salmon, the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and rye toast. A couple sits at the table next to us. He remarks that Nancy’s beer is empty and tells Harrison he should buy me another. We finish our appetizer and decide to split the Silver City Cheese Steak (similar to a Philly style, but with green chile, jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. Another delicious dish, Harrison and they guy start talking sports – so Harrison gets up and stands at their table to make it easier to hear each other. Nancy gets up and talk to the woman. We learn they are brother and sister – Edward and Bernadette who live in town because they are taking care of their aging mother together. We decide to just join them at their table. We talk about our trip and they give us some great information about things to do in the area for the type of things we like to do. Edward ends up picking up the tab for our meal – we tried to stop it (and lost that battle) but we agree that we will pay the tip.
Day 2 – City of Rocks
We’re ready for a partial day off, so we spend the morning just doing blog work, paying bills and catching up with a few family members. After heading to the grocery store to pick up items to cook at our cottage, we grab lunch at Arby’s and on Edward and Bernadette’s recommendation, head to a place called City of Rocks State Park. They also told us about some hot springs in the area – the Faywood Hot Springs – but as we drive past them, we see they are closed. This state park gets its name from the incredible volcanic monolith rocks that have created an otherworld landscape. Some rocks are as tall as 40 feet and they are separated by windy paths – it almost resemble houses and streets. Rocks like these only exist in 6 other places in the world. We haven’t done much walking or hiking for a few days so we decide to first hike the 3.25 miles Hydra Trail that encircles the rock formations from a distance. It is a pleasant walk through the desert here at this mile high elevation. It is all in full sun and we’ve only brought one bottle of water. By the time we complete that trail we are mostly worn out and thirsty. We start on the “inner city” .6 mile trail through the rock formations, only going half-way before turning around. There is a campground here with the camp sites beautifully located inside the “rock city” that offer lots of privacy and views.
We make tacos back at the cottage, sit in the hot tub outside under the stars for a while, then settle in to watch a movie tonight.
Day 3 Adventures
Today we will travel the Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway. “The loop” as it is referred to by locals, starts in Silver City on US 180 and we decide to travel in a clock-wise direction. The first attraction along the way is the old gold mining camp of Pinos Altos – just a short detour off the main road. There are a few historic buildings in this tiny town – and then we continue on our way. This road is full of sharp turns and ascends for what seems forever into the very tops of tops of the mountains in this area.
The main attraction along the route is Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Just after Pinos Altos, we see the sign on NM 15 north stating the park is 44 miles away – but plan for 2 hours to drive the route. Sure enough – the road is narrow, climbs 2000 feet in elevation and is winding and twisting. At an average of about 22mph, it takes us 2 hours to reach the park. About 5 miles before the park we pass through a tiny town where the Gila Hot Springs are located – they too don’t appear open so we drive on to the park’s Visitor Center. We learn that in the 1200’s, the Tularosa Mongollon people built rooms within a series of 5 large caves up on the cliff – a total of 40 rooms. They lived here for only 20-25 years before moving on and there is no evidence of any other group living in those rooms since.
The hike to the cliff dwellings is only 1 mile round trip – but of course that means .5 mile up and .5 mile down. About halfway up the hill we see 3 women doing a choreographed dance and singing. Just as they end their dance, they notice us and are profusely embarrassed. The man with the video camera tells us they call themselves “Mary & The Motards” and they do this same dance at all the places they hike together. We continue the hike to the dwellings and the path goes into some of the rooms. We have to climb down a wooden ladder to get back out.
Before we leave, Nancy isn’t feeling well and wants to take a break but Harrison goes on a short couple mile hike on one of the nearby wilderness trails where he crosses the Gila River several times.
Now it is time to continue the scenic byway which first involves 22 miles of backtracking to NM 35. NM35 first passes Lake Roberts, then passes through towering cliffs that follow the Sapillo Creek and then descends into grassy meadows in the ranch filled Mimbes Valley below. The loop then requires getting onto NM 152 to complete the loop. O the drive along this road you see the Santa Rita Copper Mine (aka the Chino Mine) in the distance and we stop at the overlook. This is one the largest open pit copper mines in the world and has been in continuous operation for just over 200 years.
Next we get back on US 180 to complete the loop, but not without stopping at the final attraction along the byway – Fort Bayard National Landmark. Founded in 1866 to provide security for miners and settlers against Native American attacks, the fort was primarily staffed by African American “Buffalo Soldiers”. In the early 1900’s it was converted into a tuberculosis sanitarium. The fort was partially reactivated as a military installation during World War II where a number of German prisoners of war were held at the fort from 1943 to 1945. It later became a VA hospital. While once a large facility on 15 acres, most buildings were torn down and little remains except some of the staff’s living quarters. There is little to see other than signage with old photos along a 1 mile road loop where the buildings once stood.
Once back in Silver City, we head to Wrangler’s Bar & Grill. It is about 4:30pm and normally that means it will be easy to find a seat – but this place is packed. We remember that it is election day so school is not in session today and we see lots of families here. There’s also a World Series game on tonight – and we are in Mountain Time, so the game starts at 6pm and we hear people talking about saving tables to watch the game tonight. Tonight is perhaps the last of the series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. If the Braves win tonight, they win the series. We can’t get seats at the bar so we take a table near the bar. The hostess seats us, tells us our server Louie will be with us shortly but goes ahead and takes our order for 2 Bud Lights. Fifteen minutes later we finally get our beers from the hostess after we track her down. Louie finally shows up and he’s a young kid at his first job and it is only his first week. He is definitely overwhelmed with the crowd tonight. Harrison gets the Fajitas and Nancy gets a “senior size” Cobb Salad. Service is very slow and there is no opportunity to meet and chat with people – so we just eat our meal so we can get out and back home.
Back at the cottage, we get in the hot tub and watch the rest of the World Series game on Harrison’s cell phone with the sound piped through our Bluetooth speaker. Life is good!
Our Verdict
We enjoyed our time in Silver City and the adventures it had to offer. Restaurants that we enjoy were lacking and since we pretty much did all the area has to offer, this will be a once and done place for us.
Next Up
Here is a link to our previous stop in Page, AZ.
Our next stop will be 3 days in Ruidoso New Mexico.
Leave a Reply